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CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


A VILLAGE  STREET 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


BY 

✓ 

JANET  HARVEY  KELMAN 


WITH  EIGHT  COLOURED  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 


PRINTED  BY 


TURNBULL  AND  SPEARS, 


EDINBURGH 


CONTENTS 


page 

I.  The  Story  of  the  World  ...  9 

II.  The  Story  of  the  Ganges  . . .12 

III.  The  Story  of  Life  and  Death  . . 16 

IV.  The  Story  of  Caste  . . . 17 

V.  The  Story  of  Fate  . . . .21 

VI.  The  Story  of  the  Prophet  . . .24 

VII.  Children  in  Hindu  Homes  . . .27 

VIII.  Boys  and  Girls  .....  39 

IX.  The  King  of  India  . . . .52 

X.  New  Sights  in  India  . . . .56 

XI.  Ananta,  the  Seeker  . . . .65 

XII.  The  Pandita  Ramabai  . . . .72 

XIII.  Hormasdji  Pestonji  . . . -79 

XIV.  Sita  the  Widow  .....  82 

XV.  Dilawur  Khan  and  the  King  . . .87 

XVI.  Sooboo  ......  91 


7 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


1.  A Village  Street 

2.  On  Pilgrimage  to  the  Mountain  . 

3.  Fakirs  . 

4.  A Snake-Charmer 

5.  A Wayside  Shrine 

6.  Rescued  Famine  Children  . 

7.  A School  for  Girls  . 

8.  Rescued  Child  Widows 


Frontispiece 

PAGE 

. 10 

18 

. 28 

• 46 

64 
72 
86 


8 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD 

India  is  a very  old  land,  and  those  who  live  there 
look  far  back  into  the  past.  They  listen  to  the 
stories  that  were  told  of  men  and  gods  in  those  old 
days,  and  follow  the  customs  that  were  followed  then. 

There  are  many  gods  in  India,  and  many  priests 
who  serve  in  their  temples  and  at  their  shrines.  The 
priests  have  more  power  over  the  lives  of  the  people 
than  the  gods  have,  but  custom  has  far  more  power 
than  either  gods  or  priests. 

No  one  can  tell  how  many  hundreds  of  years  have 
passed  since  the  stories  that  rule  the  lives  of  Hindu 
children  to-day  were  first  told.  Long  before  the 
earliest  time  of  which  we  know  anything  in  the  history 
of  our  islands,  there  were  wise  thinkers  and  clever 
workmen  in  India,  and  the  men  and  women  of  that 
land  think  of  them  and  of  their  customs  with  awe 
and  reverence.  And  because  much  of  the  life  of  a 
Hindu  child  to-day  is  the  result  of  the  thoughts  that 
have  come  from  that  far  past  time,  we  must  listen 
to  some  of  those  old  stories. 

Before  America  was  discovered  by  Columbus  men 
here  had  strange  ideas  about  the  shape  of  the  world. 

9 


10 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


Men  in  India  had  thought  of  that  too,  long  before 
anyone  in  Britain  did,  and  this  is  the  picture  of  the 
world  they  made  for  themselves. 

They  saw  a beautiful  large  lotus  flower  held  up  on 
the  back  of  an  elephant,  in  the  midst  of  seven  seas. 
One  sea  was  of  salt  water  and  another  of  fresh,  and 
these  two  were  the  only  ones  that  were  at  all  like  the 
seas  of  earth.  One  of  the  others  was  a sticky  sea, 
for  the  waves  that  broke  on  its  shores  were  of 
sugar-cane  juice.  Another  was  clear  and  sparkling 
with  dancing  waves  of  wine.  Then  there  was  an  oily 
sea  of  melted  butter,  a flat  sea  of  curds,  and  a beautiful 
white  sea  of  milk.  But  no  one  had  looked  at  these 
strange  seas,  nor  had  any  one  seen  the  great  elephant 
that  held  the  lotus  flower  on  his  back.  Only  the 
flower  itself  at  the  centre  of  all  was  seen  or  known. 
India  to  the  south,  and  the  other  lands  to  the  north, 
the  east,  and  the  west  of  the  Himalayas,  formed 
the  petals  of  the  world  lotus,  and  at  its  centre  amongst 
the  great  snow  mountains  the  god  Siva  sat  on  his 
throne  on  Mount  Meru. 

There  is  one  special  mountain  there,  to  which 
pilgrims  go,  and  they  hold  it  as  sacred  as  if  it  really 
were  the  ancient  Mount  Meru.  It  rises  from  a grassy 
plain,  and  a deep  ravine  cuts  it  off  from  the  other 
mountains.  High  up  it  is  covered  with  snow,  but 
towards  the  foot  great  cliffs  of  rock  stand  out  bluish 
purple  against  the  whiteness,  in  bands  round  the 
mountain.  Near  the  base  there  is  a broad  dark  band 
made  by  a very  high  cliff,  and  the  priests  point  this 
out  to  pilgrims.  “ See,”  they  say,  “ the  mark  of 


ON  PILGRIMAGE  TO  THE  MOUNTAIN 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD  11 

the  ropes  of  the  demon  who  tried  to  drag  away  the 
throne  of  Siva.” 

And  the  pilgrim  gazes  with  awestruck  eyes,  for  he 
sees  not  only  the  marks  of  the  demon’s  rope,  but  also, 
in  the  narrower  bands  higher  up  the  mountain,  the 
coils  of  the  serpent  that  he  has  often  seen  in  his  images 
of  Siva  ; and,  in  the  ragged  edges  of  the  snow-clad 
peaks  and  the  icicles  that  hang  from  the  glaciers,  he 
sees  the  matted  hair  of  the  god.  He  is  tired  and 
weary,  for  it  is  months  since  he  left  his  home 
in  the  plains.  First  he  marched  through  tangled 
jungle,  through  grass  three  times  as  tall  as  himself, 
and  under  great  cane  stalks  and  feathery  bamboo 
trees.  In  these  early  stages  of  his  walk  he  sang  and 
shouted  to  frighten  away  the  heavy  sleepy  bear,  and 
to  scare  the  quick-limbed  panther  that  might  be 
resting  on  any  overhanging  branch.  Then  he  climbed 
up  through  forests  of  dark  cedar  and  pine,  with  the 
white  flowers  of  the  magnolia,  and  the  wealth  of 
rhododendrons  bright  against  the  dark  tree  stems. 
On  and  on  he  went  into  the  cold  grey  passes  where 
his  fear  of  wild  beasts  was  lost  in  the  fear  of  the  spirits 
of  the  mountains,  and  he  walked  in  silence  and  awe 
lest  avalanche  or  storm  should  prove  to  him  their 
anger.  For  he  felt  that  he  was  indeed  amongst  the 
homes  of  the  gods.  Each  moment  as  he  mounted 
higher  new  snow-clad  peaks  rose  before  him,  and  those 
he  had  already  seen  seemed  higher  and  greater.  His 
heart  was  filled  with  the  dream  of  a rich  land  some- 
where amongst  these  glittering  heights  to  which  his 
soul  might  go  after  death,  if  only  his  pilgrimage  should 


12 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


win  him  merit.  So,  as  the  sun  sent  flashes  of  light 
across  the  snowy  peaks,  the  weary  man  plucked  up 
courage  and  stepped  out  more  bravely,  till  at  length 
through  a last  ravine  he  saw  the  hoary  head  of  the 
mountain  he  sought,  and  as  he  saw  it  he  tore  from 
his  threadbare  loin-cloth  a little  rag  to  tie  to  a bit  of 
scrub.  Other  rags  hung  there,  for  many  pilgrims  when 
they  reached  that  spot  had  been  so  poor  that  they  had 
nothing  left  to  offer  at  the  sacred  bush  except  a bit  of 
the  cloth  they  wore.  And  so  he  added  another,  and  left 
the  rags  to  flutter  there  in  the  cold  winds  of  that  high 
land,  while  he  hastened  on  to  finish  his  pilgrimage,  and 
walk  round  the  sacred  mountain. 

Other  places  are  sacred  besides  this  mountain  that 
stands  for  Mount  Meru,  the  centre  of  the  world  lotus. 
Each  rock  and  stream  has  its  spirit,  and  everywhere 
amongst  the  mountains  there  are  shrines  and  temples 
and  far  off  holy  places  to  which  pilgrims  go  in  their 
endless  search  for  rest.  Through  all  the  land  of  India 
the  mountains  of  the  north  are  held  sacred,  and  often 
the  eyes  of  men  who  will  never  be  able  to  reach  them 
as  pilgrims  look  longingly  towards  those  homes  of  the 
gods. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  GANGES 

Very  long  ago,  though  the  mountains  stood  at  the 
world’s  centre,  and  India  lay  at  their  feet,  there  was 
no  Ganges  river,  and  the  plains  lay  bare  and  fruitless. 
The  god  Siva  then  lived  on  the  top  of  a high  mountain, 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GANGES  13 


and  spent  his  time  in  thought.  Up  over  his  head 
above  the  mountains  the  Princess  Ganga  lived  free 
as  the  wind.  She  was  the  daughter  of  King  Himalaya, 
and  the  air  nymph  Menaka,  and  so  her  home  was  in 
the  air  among  the  heights. 

At  that  time  there  lived  a very  wise  man  on  earth, 
and,  as  he  looked  at  the  burning  plains  of  India,  and 
thought  of  the  air  princess,  he  said  to  himself,  " If 
she  would  only  give  up  her  freedom  and  become  a 
river,  how  she  could  enrich  and  purify  the  earth.” 
And  when  he  had  thought  this  out,  he  began  to  pray 
to  the  god  Siva  to  send  Ganga  to  earth.  Siva  granted 
his  request,  and  the  Princess  floated  down  to  earth. 
She  touched  it  first  at  the  mountain  top  where  the 
god  sat,  but  he  caught  her  in  the  tangled  masses  of 
his  hair,  and  for  ages  she  could  not  escape  from  them, 
so  the  wise  man  could  not  see  the  answer  to  his 
prayer.  But  long  long  afterwards,  she  broke  away 
from  her  prison  on  the  mountain  top,  and  flowed  down 
under  the  glacier  ice,  and  over  the  bare  grey  rocks. 
She  made  her  way  through  the  ravines,  and  the 
great  pine  woods  sprang  up  as  she  flowed.  Rhodo- 
dendrons grew  on  the  banks  at  her  coming,  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  the  jungle  stretched  down  to 
be  nourished  by  her  waters.  But  it  was  out  on  the 
open  plain  that  the  Princess  Ganga  really  showed 
her  power.  There,  fields  of  wheat  and  rice  and 
poppies  and  lentils  grew  up  wherever  she  flowed,  and 
wherever  the  streams  that  joined  her  from  the  moun- 
tains made  their  way  to  reach  her.  Groups  of  fruit 
trees  and  bamboos  grew  too,  and  men  came  to  settle 


14 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


in  villages  beside  them  till  the  plain  of  the  Ganges 
became  a great,  bright,  busy  place  with  herds  of  buf- 
faloes watched  by  little  boys,  with  oxen  yoked  to  the 
plough,  and  other  oxen  carrying  the  precious  river 
water  to  pour  it  on  fields  that  were  far  from  the  banks. 

But  the  Ganges  is  far  more  than  the  bringer  of  food 
and  life  to  the  Hindus,  for  the  sage  prayed  that  the 
river  might  flow  to  bear  away  the  sin  of  men,  and  that 
is  a far  greater  thing  than  only  to  bring  food.  But 
we  must  remember  that  sin  means  something  different 
to  a Hindu  child  from  what  we  think  of  as  sin.  To 
him  it  does  not  mean  unkindness,  or  cruelty,  or 
lying,  or  even  murder  ; it  means  breaking  the  rules  of 
custom. 

Because  of  the  sacredness  of  the  Ganges  men  bathe  in 
it,  and  pray  to  die  beside  it,  that  after  their  bodies  have 
been  burned  on  its  banks  the  ashes  may  be  scattered 
over  its  waters,  and  allowed  to  float  away  far  out  to 
sea.  They  hope  that  if  that  happens,  their  souls  will 
be  lost  in  the  great  unknown  spirit  in  which  they 
believe,  as  the  river  is  lost  in  the  ocean. 

Every  bend  of  the  Ganges  is  sacred,  and  each  place 
where  a stream  joins  it,  is  yet  more  holy.  Pilgrims 
go  from  its  mouth  to  its  source  and  back  again.  If 
they  walk,  they  take  six  months  to  the  pilgrimage, 
but  if  they  wish  to  win  more  merit,  they  lay  themselves 
down  on  the  ground  and  cover  miles  of  the  bank  with 
their  bodies  instead  of  with  their  feet,  and  that  takes 
far  longer. 

There  is  a great  gorge  where  the  Ganges  flows  out 
on  to  the  open  plain.  Near  it  stands  the  town  of 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  GANGES 


15 


Hard  war,  and  on  the  Hindu  New  Year’s  day  dense 
crowds  of  pilgrims  gather  there  in  honour  of  the 
birthday  of  the  river.  They  bring  the  ashes  of  the 
dead  whom  they  have  loved  with  them,  and  as  they 
throw  them  on  the  flowing  water  they  feel  that  they 
have  done  for  their  friends  the  very  greatest  thing 
they  could  do.  Then  at  a certain  moment  each  pilgrim 
struggles  to  be  first  to  bathe  in  the  river. 

The  most  sacred  city  is  Benares,  and  all  the  year 
long  its  streets  and  temples  and  river  banks  are 
thronged  with  pilgrims.  They  bathe,  and  throw 
sandal-wood,  sweets  and  flowers  into  the  river.  Some 
of  them  wear  garlands,  and,  as  they  bathe,  the  garlands 
rise  from  their  breasts  on  the  water,  and  float  down  the 
current.  Then  the  pilgrims  go  round  the  sacred 
city,  a walk  of  ten  miles,  and  afterwards  they  offer 
flowers  and  gifts  in  as  many  temples  as  possible. 
After  all  is  done,  they  turn  homewards  across  the  plain, 
unless  they  are  so  old  or  so  ill  that  they  may  hope 
to  die  soon.  If  they  are,  they  stay  on  in  the  strange 
city  in  poverty  and  pain,  for  to  die  in  Benares  is  a 
better  thing  to  them  than  to  be  amongst  friends  or  in 
the  home  of  their  childhood. 

But  flowers  and  ashes  are  not  the  only  gifts  that 
have  been  offered  to  the  Princess  Ganga.  Once  little 
living  babies  were  thrown  to  her  waters,  and  old  men 
and  women  have  been  left  to  her  mercy  by  those  who 
were  too  heartless  or  too  poor  to  feed  them.  These 
terrible  offerings  are  not  seen  now,  for  the  British 
Government  has  forbidden  anyone  to  throw  any  living 
person  into  the  river. 


16 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  STORY  OF  LIFE  AND  DEATH 

Long  long  ago,  the  unknown  spirit  began  to  play  a 
game  of  life  and  death,  and  he  is  still  playing  it.  That 
is  what  a Hindu  child  is  taught,  so  life  is  not  a real 
thing  to  him,  but  is  only  make-believe.  Yet  the  rules 
of  this  game  are  so  hard  and  fast  that  none  of  the 
puppets  can  escape  from  them.  The  Hindu  story  of  life 
and  death  all  circles  round  one  rule  of  the  game.  That 
rule  is  that  everything  anyone  does  and  everything 
anyone  says  must  be  punished  or  rewarded  in  another 
life,  so  that  a little  Indian  child  believes  that  he  has 
been  alive  on  earth  hundreds  of  times  before,  and 
that  everything  that  happens  to  him  in  this  life 
happens  because  of  something  he  has  said  or  done  in  a 
life  that  is  gone  by,  and  which  he  forgets. 

He  fears  too  very  much  to  do  anything  for  which 
he  may  suffer  in  another  life,  for  if  he  does  wrong  in 
this  life  he  may  be  born  a woman,  or  a cow,  or  a frog, 
or  he  may  be  sent  to  one  of  the  hells  to  be  tortured  by 
demons  there.  Because  of  this,  and  because,  too,  the 
spirits  of  his  gods  may  be  in  trees  or  animals  or  stones, 
he  is  very  kind  to  animals,  and  he  worships  trees  and 
stones. 

The  round  of  birth  and  death  is  very  long,  for  the 
full  number  of  lives  is  eight  million  four  hundred 
thousand,  and  if,  after  the  soul  has  made  many  steps 
upwards,  it  breaks  a rule  of  life,  it  may  have  to  go 
away  back  to  the  beginning. 


THE  STORY  OF  CASTE 


17 


The  one  great  hope  is  that  some  time  in  the  dim 
future,  by  keeping  all  the  rules  of  the  game  in  one 
life  after  another,  the  spirit  may  be  set  free  from  birth 
and  death,  and  may  drop  out  of  the  endless  game.  It 
may  not  seem  at  first  such  a very  terrible  thing  to  go 
on  living  one  life  after  another,  but  the  thought  of  it 
has  become  an  awful  thing  to  those  who  believe  in  it. 

Life  to  them  is  very  hard.  Terrible  famines  come, 
and  bring  hunger  and  plague  and  death.  And  men  and 
women  lay  all  that  is  left  to  them  of  food  and  of  money 
before  the  gods,  and  pray  them  to  send  rain.  Even 
when  there  is  no  famine  in  the  land  the  daily  observ- 
ances of  custom  and  the  weary  round  of  toil  depress  the 
spirits  of  men,  so  that  the  more  they  think  of  anything 
beyond  the  work  of  the  day,  the  more  they  long  to  give 
up  living  altogether.  A South  Indian  folksong  says 

" How  many  births  are  past,  I cannot  tell, 

How  many  yet  to  come  no  man  can  say. 

But  this  alone  I know,  and  know  full  well, 

That  pain  and  grief  embitter  all  the  way.” 

Quoted  by  C.  A.  Mason  in  "Lux  Chrisii.” 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  STORY  OF  CASTE 

Far  back  in  the  early  days  four  kinds  of  people  sprang 
from  Brahma  the  creator,  to  form  the  castes  of 
India.  The  first,  the  Brahman  caste,  sprang  from  his 
mouth,  to  rule  all  the  others.  The  second  sprang  from 
his  arms  to  be  the  warriors  of  the  land.  The  third 
B 


18 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


sprang  from  his  loins  to  be  the  business  men  and  the 
landowners,  and  from  his  feet  came  the  fourth  to 
serve  the  others. 

The  Brahmans  are  still  the  powerful  caste.  From 
amongst  them  priests  are  taken,  and  they  rule  all 
others.  But  the  other  three  castes  have  been  broken 
up  into  many  smaller  divisions,  till  one  can  scarcely 
trace  the  lines  that  mark  the  difference  between  the 
four  that  were  spoken  of  long  ago.  And  besides  all 
the  castes  there  are  thousands  of  those  who  are  outside. 
They  are  called  pariahs,  and  all  the  caste  men  look 
down  on  them  and  scorn  them. 

In  some  parts  of  India  those  who  belong  to  different 
castes  are  as  far  apart  from  each  other  as  if  the  lower 
caste  men  were  not  human  beings  at  all,  and  a high  caste 
man  will  not  touch  a low  caste  one  even  to  save  his  life. 
The  Brahmans  are  treated  almost  as  if  they  were  gods. 
Many  of  them  live  by  the  gifts  of  the  people,  so  they 
do  everything  they  can  to  strengthen  the  old  customs 
and  beliefs  that  make  the  other  Hindus  worship  them. 
They  have  strange  ways  of  keeping  their  power.  If  a 
Brahman  is  angry  with  anyone  he  will  go  and  sit  on  his 
enemy’s  doorstep  day  and  night  without  tasting  food 
or  drinking  water.  Even  if  the  villager  does  not  give 
in  at  once,  he  soon  does,  because  he  knows  that  the 
Brahman  will  rather  starve  to  death  than  leave  his 
door,  unless  he  gets  his  way,  and  the  poor  man  thinks 
of  all  that  may  happen  to  him  after  death  if  he  allows 
a priest  to  die  of  hunger  on  his  doorstep.  He  thinks 
he  may  go  to  one  of  the  places  of  punishment  beyond 
the  world,  and  after  hundreds  of  years  come  back  to 


FAKIKS 


THE  STORY  OF  CASTE  19 

earth  as  a worm  or  a fly,  and  so  he  does  what  the  priest 
bids  him,  however  hard  it  is. 

It  is  caste  law  that  tells  Hindu  children  what  sin  is, 
and  many  of  its  rules  are  about  eating  and  bathing. 
No  one  may  eat  food  with  anyone  of  a lower  caste.  No 
one  may  marry  anyone  of  a different  caste.  No  one 
may  change  his  religion.  There  are  many  rules  about 
what  the  people  of  each  caste  may  eat,  and  how  their 
food  must  be  cooked. 

Many  of  the  laws  of  caste  speak  of  the  honour  that 
must  be  paid  to  Brahmans,  and  of  the  punishments 
anyone  who  does  not  reverence  them  may  suffer. 
Some  of  these  punishments  are  so  cruel  that  the 
government  would  interfere  if  anyone  tried  to  enforce 
them  now,  but  the  fear  of  the  pain  that  may  come  after 
death  is  strong  enough  to  keep  very  many  Hindus  still 
in  constant  fear  of  the  Brahmans,  even  though  they 
cannot  be  punished  so  brutally  in  this  life  as  they  once 
might  have  been.  Here  are  some  sentences  from  the 
laws  about  caste. 

“ The  Brahman  is  by  right  the  lord  of  all  this 
creation.” 

“ What  being  is  there  superior  to  him  by  whose 
mouth  the  gods  eat  oblations  ? ” 

“ When  the  Brahman  is  born  he  is  born  above  the 
world,  the  chief  of  all  creatures,  to  guard  the  treasures 
of  religion.” 

“ Thus  whatever  exists  in  the  universe  is  all  the 
property  of  the  Brahman.” 

‘‘No  greater  wrong  is  found  on  earth  than  killing 
a Brahman.” 


20 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


" Certainly  the  king  should  not  slay  a Brahman, 
even  if  he  be  occupied  in  crime  of  every  sort.” 

“ A Brahman  may  take  possession  of  the  goods  of  the 
Sudra 1 with  perfect  ease  of  mind,  for,  since  nothing  at 
all  belongs  to  this  Sudra,  as  his  own,  he  is  one  whose  pro- 
perty may  be  taken  away  by  his  master.  The  leavings 
of  food  should  be  given  to  him,  and  the  old  clothes.” 

“ If  a man  of  low  birth  assault  one  of  the  twice-born 
castes  with  violent  words  he  ought  to  have  his  tongue 
cut  out.” 

“ If  he  lift  up  his  hand  or  his  staff  against  him  he 
ought  to  have  his  head  cut  off.” 

“ The  dwelling  of  Chandals2  and  Swapacas2  should 
be  outside  the  village  ; their  clothes  should  be  the 
garments  of  the  dead,  and  their  food  should  be  in 
broken  dishes.” 

These  are  only  a few  out  of  many,  and  some  of  the 
laws  are  too  cruel  to  quote  here.  Yet  though  all  that 
is  written  in  the  old  law  of  India,  men  have  often  risen 
there,  who  tried  to  break  through  the  rules  of  caste, 
and  there  are  other  ancient  writings  that  show  that 
all  Hindus  have  not  believed  in  these  differences 
between  man  and  man. 

“ Small  souls  inquire,  ‘ Belongs  this  man 
To  our  own  race,  or  class,  or  clan  ? ’ 

But  larger-hearted  men  embrace 
As  brothers  all  the  human  race.” 

But  those  who  have  held  that  caste  law  is  not  binding 
have  never  been  able  to  break  the  power  the  priests 
held  over  the  great  masses  of  the  people,  and  so 
1 Man  of  low  caste.  a Outcast  races. 


THE  STORY  OF  FATE  21 

caste  law  and  not  the  brotherhood  of  man  still 
rules. 

In  many  parts  of  India  a boy  cannot  choose  what 
trade  he  will  follow.  If  his  father  belongs  to  the 
carpenter  caste,  he  must  be  a carpenter  ; if  his  father 
is  a sweeper,  he  must  be  a sweeper  ; if  his  father  is  a 
robber,  he  will  be  a robber.  In  one  place  in  the  far 
north,  when  a little  boy  is  born  his  mother  swings  him 
backwards  and  forwards  over  a hole  in  the  wall  and 
says  to  him  : — 

" Be  a thief  ! be  a thief  I ” 

There  are  castes  of  robbers  and  murderers  still  in 
India.  The  caste  of  the  Thugs  was  the  most  famous 
one  of  them  all,  but  now  the  British  Government  has 
taken  under  its  control  all  those  who  still  belong  to  it. 
They  are  kept  in  ground  set  apart  for  them,  and 
none  of  them  are  allowed  to  go  out  to  kill  or  to  steal. 

Yet  pilgrims  still  crowd  to  the  beautiful  marble 
tomb  of  the  man  who  founded  the  caste  of  the  Thugs 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  He  is  one  of  the 
saints  of  India,  and  the  priests  who  guard  his  shrine 
cover  the  tomb  with  beautiful  cashmere  shawls,  and 
lay  fresh  flowers  on  it  morning  by  morning. 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  STORY  OF  FATE 

When  a baby  is  bom  in  India  the  lines  between  the 
bones  of  its  skull  can  be  traced  just  as  they  can  be 
traced  in  a fair-skinned  child.  The  mother  of  a white 
baby  does  not  notice  them  much,  but  they  mean  a 


22 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


great  deal  to  an  Indian  mother,  for  an  ancient  story 
is  told  about  them. 

Very  long  ago  a little  daughter  was  bom  to  Brahma, 
the  creator,  and  its  mother  asked  the  father  to  tell  her 
what  would  happen  to  the  little  child.  Then  the  god 
Brahma  turned  his  back  to  his  wife  and  his  baby,  and 
stretched  out  his  hand  behind  him  towards  the  child. 
In  his  hand  he  held  a golden  pen,  and  he  wrote  with  it 
on  the  baby’s  head.  He  could  not  see  the  letters  he 
was  writing,  but  his  wife  could,  and  as  she  read  the 
words  she  called  out  to  Brahma  to  change  the  writing, 
because  she  would  not  have  so  sad  a future  for  her 
child.  Brahma  wrote  again,  and  this  time  the  life 
he  foretold  was  worse  than  the  first  one  had  been. 
Again  the  baby’s  mother  refused  to  let  him  leave  so 
cruel  a fate  on  the  head  of  the  child,  and  once  more 
he  wrote.  But  this  time  Brahma  did  not  give  his 
wife  time  to  speak.  Ere  she  could  say  anything  he 
threw  away  his  golden  pen,  and  since  that  day  he 
has  only  written  once  for  each  child  that  has  been 
born.  The  future  that  Brahma  writes  on  the  skull 
is  called  the  “ fate,”  and  so  each  Indian  mother 
believes  that  everything  that  will  happen  to  her  child 
is  fixed  when  she  first  traces  on  the  little  skull  those 
curious  markings  which  she  calls  the  writing  of  the 
pen  of  Brahma. 

When  a baby  is  bom  there  is  great  eagerness  to  know 
whether  it  is  a boy  or  a girl.  If  it  is  a boy  there  is 
joy  in  the  home;  everyone  is  glad,  and  the  mother 
of  the  little  child  at  once  feels  that  she  has  been  a good 
woman,  and  that  the  gods  are  pleased  with  her  because 


THE  STORY  OF  FATE 


23 


they  have  given  her  a son.  But  if  the  baby  is  a girl 
everyone  is  sad,  and  the  father  if  he  is  asked  about  it 
may  say,  “It  is  nothing,”  for  he  thinks  it  a sorrow 
to  have  a little  girl  child  born.  He  would  far  rather 
have  a calf,  because  a cow  is  a sacred  animal,  but  the 
birth  of  a little  girl  is  a sign  of  the  anger  of  the  gods. 
Besides  that  the  father  knows  that  he  will  one  day  have 
to  pay  a great  sum  to  her  husband  at  her  marriage. 
When  she  is  still  very  young  her  husband  will  take  her 
away  to  his  father’s  house,  so  that  she  will  never  be 
able  to  do  anything  for  her  father  and  mother  in  their 
old  age.  So  there  are  many  reasons  why  a little  girl 
is  not  welcome.  She  is  a sign  of  the  anger  of  the  gods  ; 
she  will  cost  a great  deal  of  money,  and  she  will  never 
be  able  to  help  her  parents. 

Sometimes  when  a father  is  told  that  he  has  a little 
daughter,  he  says  nothing,  but  only  clasps  his  thumb 
round  the  fingers  of  his  hand,  and  that  is  a sign  that 
the  wee  baby  girl  is  to  die.  It  is  very  easy  to  kill  a 
little  infant,  and  where  everyone  thinks  that  it 
is  right,  it  can  be  done  quietly,  so  that  though 
those  in  the  house  know  about  it,  no  one  will  say 
anything.  It  is  sad  to  think  how  many  little  children 
are  killed  in  this  way  still,  even  before  their  mother’s 
heart  has  grown  tender  to  them,  but  some  years  ago, 
before  the  Government  of  India  set  itself  to  stop  this 
crime,  there  were  hundreds  of  little  baby  girls  killed 
openly  every  year. 

And  if  anyone  had  asked  how  fathers  and  mothers 
could  be  so  cruel  the  answer  would  have  been,  “ It 
is  our  custom,”  or,  “ It  was  her  fate.”  For  every- 


u 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


thing  depends  on  fate  to  the  Hindu,  and  no  one 
can  help  anything  that  happens.  If  an  animal  is 
drowned  in  a well,  he  leaves  it  there.  It  was  the 
creature's  fate  to  fall  into  the  well,  and  it  is  not  his 
custom  to  cleanse  the  well.  The  children  of  the 
village  may  sicken  and  die  because  of  the  poison  in  the 
well,  but  that  too  is  fate,  and  no  one  pauses  to  ask 
whether  there  may  not  be  some  other  cause. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  PROPHET 

There  are  hundreds  of  other  old  stories  that  affect 
the  life  of  Indian  children  to-day ; but  if  we  remember 
those  which  tell  us  of  the  holy  land — the  seats  of 
the  gods — amongst  the  Himalayas ; of  the  sacred 
river  of  the  Ganges,  whose  waters  are  even  said  to 
flow  underground  to  feed  the  other  rivers  of  the 
land ; of  what  life  and  death,  fate  and  caste 
mean  to  the  Hindus,  we  shall  have  something  to 
guide  us. 

But  all  those  who  live  in  India  are  not  Hindus.  Once, 
long  ago  there  was  an  Arabian  named  Mohammed. 
He  was  a camel-driver  in  Mecca,  but  from  his 
early  childhood  he  used  to  dream  strange  dreams  in 
which  he  had  visions  of  angels  who  came  to  speak 
with  him.  He  had  a faithful  disciple,  and  he 
used  to  tell  him  what  he  had  heard  in  his  dreams. 
This  man  thought  the  things  Mohammed  told  him 
were  very  wonderful,  and  he  wrote  them  down.  He 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  PROPHET 


25 


had  not  books  in  which  he  could  write  them,  so  he 
took  oyster  shells  and  bits  of  wood  and  stone,  and  some- 
times even  the  shoulder  bone  of  a sheep,  instead  of 
paper,  and  wrote  the  teachings  of  Mohammed  on  them. 
Mohammed  believed  that  there  was  only  one  God, 
whom  he  called  “ Allah,”  and  he  said  that  he  was 
his  prophet.  Within  his  life-time  he  conquered 
Syria,  Egypt  and  Persia,  and  before  fifty  years  had 
passed  after  his  death  his  followers  had  marched 
through  the  wild  passes  of  the  mountains  into  India. 
Since  then,  there  have  been  many  followers  of  the 
faith  of  the  prophet  there,  and  whenever  they  have 
been  strong  and  powerful  they  have  fought  against 
image  worship ; indeed  one  of  their  great  leaders  was 
called  the  idol-smasher. 

The  followers  of  Mohammed  believe  in  fate  as  firmly 
as  the  Hindus  do,  but  in  other  religious  things  they 
differ  from  them  greatly.  Their  greatest  feast  day  is 
at  the  end  of  the  month  that  they  call  Ramadan. 
During  the  whole  month  they  hold  a fast,  and 
eat  only  after  the  sun  sets.  Then  on  the  last 
night  of  Ramadan  they  rejoice  not  only  because  the 
long  fast  will  so  soon  be  broken,  but  also  because  it 
is  the  night  on  which  they  believe  their  sacred 
book,  the  Koran,  came  down  from  heaven.  But 
the  Koran  was  really  gathered  after  the  prophet’s 
death  from  the  sentences  his  disciple  had  written 
down  on  the  stones  and  oyster-shells  and  other  odds 
and  ends. 

On  the  morning  after  this  night  of  gladness  all  the 
Mohammedan  men  and  boys  gather  to  the  Mosques 


26 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


to  praise  Allah  for  the  good  that  they  have  enjoyed 
through  the  past  year,  and  to  ask  for  mercy  in  the 
coming  one.  But  sometimes  there  is  not  room 
within  the  mosque  of  the  city  for  all  who  gather  to 
worship,  and  then  those  who  cannot  get  into  it  spread 
their  prayer  rugs  on  the  ground  under  the  open  sky. 
Everyone  is  in  good  spirits  and  the  beggars  know 
it,  and  squat  on  the  roadsides  ready  to  call  out 
to  every  passer-by  for  gifts.  The  followers  of  the 
prophet  are  prepared  for  this  and  they  scatter  bread 
and  rice  and  beans,  and  handfuls  of  shells  here  and 
there,  while  the  beggars  shout  and  scramble  to  get 
as  much  as  they  can. 

Whenever  the  service  in  the  Mosque  is  over,  every- 
one rushes  to  the  shops,  where  all  kinds  of  Indian 
foods  can  be  had,  for  all  are  hungry  and  happy.  The 
scene  is  like  a great  fair  with  picnic  parties  everywhere, 
only  there  are  no  women  to  be  seen.  There  are  old 
men,  and  tiny  boys  ; there  are  farm-servants  and 
wealthy  land-owners,  but  never  a lady  nor  a girl. 
All  day  long  while  the  feasting  goes  on  the  streets  are 
gay  with  flowers  and  banners,  and  at  night  fireworks 
flash  out  against  the  dark  sky. 

It  is  only  once  a year  that  this  great  feast  takes  place, 
but  every  day  the  followers  of  the  prophet  can  be 
seen  at  prayer.  A call  sounds  out  from  the  roof  of 
each  Mosque,  and  the  Mohammedan  when  he  hears  it 
spreads  his  rug  on  the  ground  by  the  roadside  or  in 
the  open  field,  kneels  on  it  with  his  face  towards  Mecca, 
his  holy  city,  and  prays  to  Allah.  When  his  prayer  is 
done  he  begins  again  at  his  work  where  he  left  off,  but 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  27 


while  the  prayer  lasts  he  seems  to  know  nothing,  and 
to  see  nothing  of  what  is  around  him,  but  to  think 
only  of  Allah  and  his  prayer  to  him. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES 

Even  in  high  caste  homes,  where  the  women  are  never 
allowed  to  leave  their  own  dingy  part  of  the  house, 
little  girls,  while  they  are  still  very  young,  play  freely 
with  their  brothers.  They  are  never  thought  of  with 
pride  as  the  boys  are,  and  they  must  keep  in  the  back- 
ground when  a visitor  comes,  for  a father  does  not 
like  to  take  any  notice  of  his  daughters  when  a stranger 
is  there,  though  he  will  call  his  boys  to  speak  to  his 
friends.  Yet  boys  and  girls  together  have  a happy 
time.  They  make  mud  pies  and  romp  about,  and 
tumble  over  each  other  all  day  long. 

Indian  boys  are  very  fond  of  flying  kites.  Their 
kites  are  square,  and  many  of  them  are  different  from 
those  we  see,  in  another  way,  for  Indian  boys  like  to 
make  their  kites  fight  with  each  other,  and  in  order 
to  make  the  fight  keener  they  draw  the  strings  through 
a mixture  of  crushed  pieces  of  glass  and  starch.  After 
the  string  is  dry,  they  run  off  with  their  kites.  If 
they  cannot  find  a better  place,  they  climb  on  to  the 
flat  roofs  of  two  houses  near  each  other,  and  send  off 
the  kites,  and  then  the  fight  begins.  There  are  the 
two  kites  high  up  above  the  trees,  a blue  one 


28 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 

and  a green  one.  The  green  kite  hits  the  blue, 
but  neither  of  them  is  hurt.  Then  they  dodge  about 
in  the  air  for  a long  time,  for  each  boy  is  managing 
his  kite  well,  and  it  seems  as  if  neither  would  win,  when 
suddenly  the  boy  of  the  blue  kite  gives  a sharp  pull. 
His  string  has  caught  the  string  of  the  green  kite  and 
cut  it,  and  the  green  is  dropping  to  the  ground  out 
over  the  rice  field  yonder  ! 

There  are  many  curious  sights  for  children  to  watch 
in  India.  One  of  these  is  the  snake  charmer,  as  he  carries 
his  strange  pets  in  a basket  or  wound  round  his  body. 
It  is  not  only  for  his  own  amusement  or  for  the  pleasure 
of  the  little  crowds  that  gather  round  him  that  the 
charmer  plays.  A good  Hindu  will  not  kill  a snake, 
nor  any  other  animal.  But  he  is  greatly  afraid  of 
serpents,  so  if  he  sees  them  near  his  house,  or  in  his 
garden,  he  may  send  for  a charmer  to  come  and  play 
his  weird  music  till  the  snakes  are  fascinated,  and 
wriggle  to  him,  and  let  him  shut  them  up  in  his  basket. 
When  he  has  carried  them  away  he  will  take  out  their 
poison  fangs,  and  keep  them  to  add  to  his  other 
pets. 

Here  is  another  tamer  who  has  only  a sparrow. 
He  carries  it  safely  in  the  folds  of  his  robe,  and 
when  he  wishes  to  show  it  to  anyone  he  lays  it 
down  on  the  ground.  It  does  not  fly  away,  but  hops 
about  till  he  lays  down  a heap  of  beads,  which  have 
been  hidden  in  another  fold  of  his  garment.  Then  he 
holds  up  a thread  in  the  air.  All  is  ready  now,  and 
the  bird  catches  the  dangling  end,  and  climbs  up  the 
thread  and  down  again.  Then  the  little  sparrow 


A SNAKE  CHARMER 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  29 

lifts  the  beads  one  by  one,  and  threads  them  on  to  the 
string.  It  is  all  done  in  the  cheeriest  way,  and  the 
bird  seems  as  happy  as  the  little  children  who  watch 
him. 

If  a boy  lives  near  the  jungle  he  may  see  the  taming 
of  a herd  of  elephants.  First  of  all  he  will  help  to 
build  two  great  strong  fences  in  the  forest.  At  one 
end  the  two  fences  are  quite  near  each  other,  but  at 
the  other  end  they  are  far  apart,  so  that  there  is  a mile 
or  more  of  jungle  ground  between  them.  At  the 
narrow  end  of  the  fenced-in  ground,  there  is  a large 
enclosed  space,  and  just  where  the  two  fences  open 
into  it  there  is  a great  scaffolding  high  up  in  the  air. 
When  all  is  ready  the  fence  round  the  enclosure  is 
tested  and  tried  to  make  sure  that  it  will  not  give 
way.  Elephants  roam  the  forest  in  herds,  only 
now  and  again  a lone  elephant  is  found,  and  he  is 
generally  a very  fierce  one,  whom  tamers  would  not 
wish  to  capture.  After  all  is  ready  at  the  Kheddah,1 
the  hunters  watch  for  a fine  herd  of  elephants.  When 
the  message  comes  that  there  is  a herd  near,  men  go 
out  into  the  forest.  They  separate  and  go  quietly 
till  they  have  formed  a ring  round  the  herd  in  every 
direction,  except  the  one  towards  the  wide  opening 
to  the  fences.  Then  when  the  ring  is  complete,  the 
men  begin  to  close  in  towards  the  herd  with  shouts. 
The  shouts  come  to  the  elephants  from  every  direction 
except  one,  and  as  they  seem  to  hear  so  many  foes 
they  do  not  know  which  to  attack,  and  so  they  rush 
on  wildly  in  the  one  direction  from  which  no  noise 
1 " Kheddah,”  the  name  given  to  the  enclosed  space. 


30 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


comes.  Ihe  men  close  in  towards  the  fences  very 
carefully  until  the  whole  herd  of  elephants  is  within  the 
wide  end  of  the  fenced  ground.  Each  moment  the 
yelling  of  the  beaters  seems  nearer,  and  the  herd 
rushes  on  wildly.  Beyond  the  narrow  end  of  the 
fences,  they  see  what  seems  like  open  ground,  and 
they  rush  for  that.  As  the  last  one  passes  through 
the  narrow  space  the  great  scaffolding  is  allowed  to 
drop,  and  the  elephants  are  prisoners. 

But  that  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  work,  and  by 
far  the  easiest  part.  The  taming  has  still  to  be  done. 
After  the  herd  is  captive,  tame  elephants  with  riders 
on  their  backs  tackle  the  full  grown  elephants  of  the 
herd  one  by  one.  Even  a strong  wild  elephant  is 
not  a match  for  two  or  three  tame  ones,  and  the  trained 
ones  know  their  work  so  well  that  they  soon  get  the 
wild  creature  they  are'  surrounding  close  to  a tree. 
That  is  their  bit  of  the  work.  Then  the  mahout,1 
who  has  been  on  the  back  of  one  of  the  tame  elephants, 
lets  himself  down  to  the  ground.  The  tame  elephants 
still  keep  the  wild  one  close  to  the  tree,  and  hem  him 
in  to  keep  him  from  attacking  the  man  who  is  on  the 
ground,  for  he  is  in  great  danger.  He  has  to  slip  ropes 
round  the  legs  of  the  wild  elephant  and  fasten  him  to 
the  tree.  The  first  ropes  are  the  most  dangerous  ones, 
for  when  the  great  beast  feels  that  he  is  caught,  he  is 
desperate,  and  strikes  out  in  every  direction  ; but  the 
drivers  are  quick  and  clever,  and  soon  their  prisoner 
is  tied  so  tightly  to  the  tree  that  he  can  do  no  harm 
to  any  one.  Then  when  he  is  firmly  fixed  there,  the 
1 Elephant  driver. 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  31 


mahouts  try  to  make  friends  with  him.  They  bring 
him  fruit  and  sugar-cane,  and  all  the  things  he  likes 
best  to  eat,  and  they  stay  by  him,  talking  to  him  and 
singing  till  he  grows  quite  at  home  with  them.  Some- 
times they  can  loosen  his  cords  within  a fortnight, 
and  lead  him  off  between  two  others. 

There  are  many  other  strange  sights  and  sounds  in 
the  jungle,  and  some  of  them  are  greatly  feared  by 
Indian  boys.  Though  there  are  many  Hindus  who 
will  not  kill  any  animal  because  of  their  caste  rules, 
there  are  others  who  do,  and  some  of  them  are  very 
clever  in  catching  and  killing  tigers. 

The  tiger  is  a very  cruel  creature  that  will  kill 
even  when  he  is  not  hungry,  and  if  one  begins 
to  eat  men  as  well  as  cattle  the  villagers  live  in 
terror  of  him.  He  watches  warily  by  the  roadways 
for  any  stray  passer-by,  and  he  will  follow  a bullock 
cart  for  miles  in  the  hope  that  some  one  of  those  who 
walk  by  it  will  fall  behind,  and  give  him  the  chance 
of  attacking  him  alone.  And  so  men  learn  to  fear 
the  “ pug  ” marks  of  the  tiger  with  a terrible  fear, 
and  to  shudder  at  the  thought  of  his  silent  footsteps. 
When  the  villagers  find  that  there  is  a tiger  making 
his  lair  near  their  village,  and  coming  to  it  day  after 
day  to  steal  their  cattle  or  to  carry  off  their  children, 
they  first  find  out  where  he  drinks.  That  is  easily 
done,  for  the  soft  clay  near  the  bank  of  the  river  keeps 
the  marks  of  his  paws.  Then  when  they  are  sure  of 
that,  they  get  three  strong  nets  and  hang  them  from 
upright  bamboos  across  the  path  by  which  he  must 
come  to  drink.  The  tiger  comes  quietly  along,  and 


32 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 

ere  he  knows  he  is  entangled  in  one  of  the  nets  and 
has  pulled  down  the  first  pair  of  bamboo  poles.  The 
more  he  struggles  the  more  the  meshes  trouble  him, 
and  if  he  does  manage  to  break  through,  all  tram- 
melled as  he  is  with  the  broken  net,  it  is  only  to 
dash  into  the  next  one.  There  he  lies  wild  and  help- 
less, and  struggles  till  he  is  worn  out.  In  the  evening, 
the  villagers  come  with  their  spears  and  attack  the 
prisoner,  but  they  do  not  like  him  to  be  too  quiet. 
They  like  him  to  growl  at  them,  and  to  try  to  leap  at 
them.  It  seems  too  easy  a victory  if  he  is  dull  and 
stupid  ere  they  reach  him. 

The  jungle  is  full  of  interesting  plants  and  animals, 
and  we  could  fill  a large  book  with  their  names  and 
habits,  but  we  must  only  take  time  to  speak  of  one 
other  creature.  It  will  form  a link  for  us  between 
jungle  sights  and  sounds,  and  the  splendour  of  the 
courts  of  the  olden  rulers  of  which  children  may  still 
see  relics  in  some  parts  of  India.  The  animal  that 
links  the  palace  with  the  jungle  is  the  cheetah,  for  six 
cheetahs  have  been  taken  from  their  wild  haunts  to 
guard  the  Uzar  Bhagh  Palace  in  Baroda.  Through  the 
day  they  are  muzzled,  and  wander  freely  in  the  gardens. 
They  are  like  small  leopards,  and  they  steal  about 
amongst  the  trees  or  lie  sleeping  in  the  sun  through 
the  long  hot  hours.  But  each  evening  they  are  shut 
up  in  the  palace.  Their  muzzles  are  taken  off,  and  all 
night  long  the  fierce  creatures  wander  through  the 
passages  and  halls.  For  within  the  closed  doors  that 
they  guard,  the  jewels  of  Baroda,  the  richest  in  all 
India,  he.  In  the  collar  of  state  alone,  there  are  five 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  33 


hundred  diamonds,  and  some  of  them  are  as  large 
as  walnuts.  Round  the  edge  of  this  collar  three 
bands  of  emeralds  run,  and  each  emerald  in  the  outer 
row  is  about  an  inch  square,  while  a great  diamond, 
that  is  called  the  star  of  the  Deccan,  hangs  down  in 
front.  There  are  many  other  treasures  there  besides 
the  wonderful  collar,  and  the  most  interesting  of 
them  are  a rug  and  two  pillow  covers.  The  rug 
is  more  than  ten  feet  in  length  and  six  feet  wide,  and 
it  and  the  pillow  covers  are  made  of  strings  of  pearls 
woven  together  and  decorated  with  diamonds.  These 
jewelled  cloths  brought  the  present  ruler  of  Baroda  to 
his  throne  in  a strange  way. 

Baroda  is  a native  state,  whose  princes  are  called 
Gaikwars.  The  word  Gaikwar  means  cowherd  really, 
but  for  hundreds  of  years  it  has  been  the  royal  title  of 
the  rulers  of  Baroda.  These  men  trace  their  family 
far  back  into  the  times  of  the  ancient  stories,  for  they 
believe  that  they  descended  from  a Hindu  hero  called 
Rama,  who  is  now  worshipped  as  a god.  This  belief 
strengthened  their  power,  because  no  one  dared  to 
oppose  anything  that  was  done  by  the  children  of  a 
god,  and  sometimes  they  used  their  power  very  badly. 
The  British  Government  tries  not  to  interfere  with 
the  Indian  rulers,  so  it  honoured  this  ancient  house, 
and  whenever  the  Gaikwar  came  to  state  ceremonies 
he  was  received  with  a salute  of  twenty-one  guns. 
But  though  the  Government  acknowledged  the  ruler 
of  Baroda,  it  did  not  wish  cruelty  and  wrong  to  go 
unpunished  in  the  lands  it  protected,  so  there  was 
always  a representative  of  the  Viceroy  in  each  pro- 
c 


34 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


tected  state.  During  the  reign  of  Malar  Rao,  the 
last  Gaikwar,  Colonel  Phayre  was  the  British  Repre- 
sentative at  Baroda,  and  while  he  was  there  he  heard 
terrible  stories  of  the  heartless  cruelty  of  the  Indian 
ruler.  He  was  sure  that  many  of  these  stories  were 
true,  but  it  was  difficult  to  prove  anything  against  a 
man  who  was  so  powerful. 

There  was  an  arena  at  Baroda  where  elephants, 
tigers  and  lions  had  fought  in  former  days  to  amuse 
the  court,  and  in  front  of  this  old  arena,  Malar  Rao 
built  a palace.  It  was  exquisitely  finished  and  very 
costly,  and  at  the  main  entrance  there  were  two  guns 
of  solid  gold,  mounted  on  silver  carriages.  Not  far 
from  the  city  there  was  an  ancient  idol,  and  at  its 
shrine  the  Gaikwar  built  a splendid  temple.  Those 
who  know  about  these  things  say  that  though  it  is 
modem,  its  workmanship  is  as  wonderful  as  that 
of  the  famous  old  temples  of  the  land.  As  Colonel 
Phayre  saw  all  this,  and  far,  far  more,  his  heart 
was  hot  within  him,  for  he  knew  that  the  Gaikwar 
was  building  all  these  things  with  money  that  he 
had  stolen  from  his  people  by  taking  bribes  and  by 
cruel  taxes.  But  the  Englishman  did  not  see 
that  he  could  prevent  it,  until  he  heard  of  the  pearl 
and  diamond  rug.  The  jewellers  of  India  searched 
for  three  years  in  order  to  get  the  gems  that  were 
needed  for  it  and  for  the  pillows,  and  when  at  last 
all  were  finished  the  Gaikwar  made  arrangements 
to  give  them  as  a gift  to  one  of  his  favourites.  When 
Colonel  Phayre  heard  that  the  woven  jewels,  the  cost 
of  which  had  been  wrung  from  the  people,  were  to  be 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  35 


given  away,  he  refused  to  allow  it.  He  said  that  the 
jewels  belonged  to  the  state  of  Baroda,  and  were  not 
Malar  Rao’s  to  give. 

Now  the  Gaikwar  had  set  his  heart  on  giving  this 
present  to  his  favourite,  and  he  was  so  enraged  that 
nothing  was  too  wild  for  him  to  attempt.  He  asked 
to  see  Colonel  Phayre,  and  with  every  show  of  friend- 
ship he  invited  him  to  drink  his  health.  The  cup  of 
pomola  juice  was  handed  to  the  guest,  but  an  in- 
stinctive feeling  of  suspicion  warned  the  Englishman, 
and  he  refused  to  drink.  And  it  was  well,  for  in  the 
cup  there  was  the  dust  of  diamonds.  Once  before 
the  Gaikwar  had  served  his  end  by  ground  jewel  dust. 
He  had  killed  his  brother  so,  and  had  ruled  in  his  stead. 
When  he  was  brought  to  trial,  this  and  many  other 
things  were  found  out,  for  his  brother  was  not  the  only 
man  whom  he  had  killed  unjustly. 

When  he  was  condemned,  the  widow  of  the  brother 
whom  he  had  poisoned  was  asked  to  adopt  a son,  to 
be  the  ruler  of  Baroda,  and  the  boy  whom  she  chose 
grew  up  to  be  a clever  and  an  able  man.  He  has 
changed  the  whole  life  of  the  state,  for  he  thinks  of 
his  people,  and  seeks  to  give  them  many  things  to 
make  life  brighter  and  easier  for  them.  And  as 
Baroda  is  called  the  “ garden  of  India,”  the  children 
who  live  there  enjoy  much  of  what  is  happiest  in 
Hindu  life.  Famine  scarcely  ever  comes  there,  for 
the  Nerbudda  river  waters  the  valley,  and  the  rain 
clouds  that  cross  the  ocean  are  never  spent  ere  they 
reach  it. 

Many  children  in  India  now  go  to  schools  that  are 


36 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


much  like  our  own,  but  in  the  far-off  villages,  the 
master  still  sits  on  the  ground,  under  a broad  tree, 
with  his  scholars  round  him.  The  little  boys  sway 
their  bodies  backwards  and  forwards  as  they  sing  out 
their  lesson,  or  bend  over  the  sandy  ground,  to  trace 
the  outlines  of  the  Sanskrit  letters  there  as  they  shout 
out  the  names  of  them  after  him. 

So  the  days  of  childhood  pass  when  all  goes  well, 
but  if  illness  comes  there  is  terrible  suffering.  The 
best  that  can  happen  to  a Hindu  child  when  he  is  ill, 
is  to  be  left  alone  to  get  well  or  to  die.  If  there  is 
something  very  serious  wrong  with  him,  his  parents 
may  think  there  is  a devil  in  the  boy,  and  send  for 
the  barber,  who  does  a great  many  things  in  an 
Indian  village  besides  cutting  hair  and  shaving  chins. 
One  little  boy  was  getting  better  after  a fever,  but 
though  the  fever  was  gone  his  eyes  were  still  very  sore 
indeed.  The  barber  was  sent  for,  and  when  he  came 
he  did  not  bathe  the  sore  red  eyes,  nor  do  anything 
to  soothe  the  pain.  Instead  of  that  he  began  to  bum 
the  top  of  the  wee  boy’s  black  head,  to  pull  the  devil 
out  by  the  burn  ! So  the  poor  little  fellow  had  to 
bear  the  pain  of  the  bum  as  well  as  the  pain  in  his 
eyes,  and  though  the  barber’s  rough  treatment  was 
of  no  use,  the  father  and  mother  tried  no  other  plan. 
They  let  the  eyes  grow  sorer  and  sorer  till  the  boy 
was  blind,  and  then  they  thought  that  Brahma  must 
have  written  with  his  golden  pen  that  their  little  son 
would  lose  his  sight.  So  they  did  not  trouble  more 
about  it,  but  began  to  think  how  they  could  make 
him  earn  money.  They  knew  he  would  never  be  able 


CHILDREN  IN  HINDU  HOMES  37 


to  work.  So  they  took  him  to  a large  town  that  he 
might  beg,  and  make  people  pity  him  because  of  his 
blindness.  But  the  boy  need  not  have  been  blind. 

Another  child  called  Yogina  was  very  ill  indeed. 
She  lay  in  a fever,  and  as  the  fever  raged,  she  said 
strange  wild  things,  for  her  mind  was  wandering,  and 
she  did  not  know  what  she  was  saying.  The  other 
girls  in  the  house  were  in  terror.  They  thought  some 
demon  had  entered  into  her,  and  they  feared  that  it 
might  leave  her  and  go  into  one  of  them,  so  a priest 
who  said  he  could  force  demons  to  leave  those  who 
were  ill  was  asked  to  come  and  cure  her. 

This  man  had  learned  how  to  say  “ Am,  Im,  Um, 
Em,  Aim,  Om,  Aum,  Tam,  Tham,  Dam,  Nam,  Pam, 
Pham,  Bam,  Mam,  Jam,  Ram,  Lam,  Vam,  Sam,  Ham, 
Ksham,”  over  and  over  again,  each  of  them  in  a 
special  tone  and  way,  and  that  proved  to  everyone 
who  heard  him  there  that  he  was  a very  marvellous 
man  who  could  do  miracles.  His  name  was  Mantra 
Shastri.  When  he  came  to  the  house  where  little 
Yogina  was  lying  in  her  fever,  he  bade  the  other 
women  of  the  house  clean  out  the  court,  and  make  a 
pattern  on  the  wet  floor  with  fine  white  powder. 
When  this  was  done,  little  Yogina  was  dragged  into 
the  court,  and  set  down  opposite  the  white  markings 
on  the  damp  floor.  Yogina  could  not  sit  up.  She 
was  too  weak,  but  Mantra  Shastri  would  do  nothing 
for  her  if  she  lay  on  the  ground.  So  the  other  women 
of  the  house  gathered  round  her  and  held  her  up. 
Then  the  devil-doctor  began  his  work.  He  went  out 
and  walked  round  the  house  several  times,  and 


38 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


sprinkled  evil-smelling  water  as  he  went.  Yogina 
cried  out  louder,  for  the  effort  of  sitting  up  made  her 
fever  more  burning,  but  all  round  the  house  the  harsh 
sounds  of  tom-toms  rose  and  the  child’s  screams 
could  not  be  heard.  Then  Mantra  Shastri  came  into 
the  inner  court  again,  and  the  women  walked  in  a 
circle  carrying  trays  of  fruit  and  flowers  and  leaves 
and  rice.  The  tom-toms  still  beat  on,  and  their  noise 
only  made  the  sick  girl  wilder.  She  did  not  know 
anything  of  what  was  going  on  around  her,  but  she 
fought  blindly  with  those  who  tried  to  hold  her  up. 

The  priest  took  little  heaps  of  rice  from  the  trays 
the  women  carried,  and  set  them  down  in  front  of 
Yogina  amongst  the  white  marks  on  the  floor.  One 
heap  was  of  white  rice,  one  of  yellow,  and  one  of  black, 
and  when  he  had  laid  them  there  he  spoke  to  the 
demon  in  the  sick  girl  and  said  : — 

“ Oh  Spirit  of  Evil,  where  do  you  come  from  ? 
What  do  you  want  ? ” The  women  who  were  round 
Yogina  were  so  eager  to  hear  what  she  would  say,  that 
they  forgot  to  hold  her  up,  and  she  fell  forward  on  the 
rice. 

Even  when  they  raised  her  she  had  no  answer  for 
the  priests’  question.  At  last  he  seized  a cane,  and 
beat  her  to  make  her  speak,  and  as  the  blows  fell  on 
Yogina’s  back  she  started  up  and  ran  twice  round  the 
court.  Then  she  fell.  A shout  rose  from  everyone 
there,  for  they  believed  that  the  evil  spirit  had  left 
her  at  last.  But  it  was  life  that  had  left  her,  and  the 
little  child,  who  might  so  easily  have  been  nursed 
back  to  health,  had  been  killed. 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


39 


That  is  one  story  of  one  little  girl,  but  it  is  not  unlike 
many,  many  others  that  might  be  told,  not  only  of 
girls,  but  of  boys  and  men  and  women,  who  die  because 
there  is  no  one  who  knows  how  to  nurse  them,  or  to 
help  them  to  get  well.  And  many  who  do  not  die  are 
ill  all  their  lives  afterwards,  because  of  the  way  in 
which  they  have  been  treated. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

But  the  children  of  India  have  to  act  as  men  and 
women  long  before  anyone  here  would  think  them 
old  enough  to  do  more  than  learn  and  play.  Very 
early  indeed  a little  Hindu  child  is  married.  Some- 
times a baby  is  married  in  the  cradle,  but  a little  girl 
is  generally  nine  or  ten  years  old  before  she  goes  away 
to  her  husband’s  house.  That  does  not  mean  that 
she  and  the  little  boy  to  whom  she  is  married  have  a 
cottage,  and  live  there  together.  It  only  means  that 
she  comes  in,  a frightened  wee  girl,  to  a houseful  of 
people  whom  she  never  saw  before.  The  oldest 
woman  in  the  house  takes  charge  of  everything. 
Often  she  is  the  grandmother  of  the  child’s  husband, 
and  the  little  wife  must  not  only  do  everything  the 
old  grandmother  tells  her,  she  must  try  to  please  all 
the  other  women  there  too,  if  she  wishes  to  be  happy. 
If  she  makes  the  others  like  her,  and  if  the  boy  to 
whom  she  is  married  likes  her,  she  may  soon  be  as 


40 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


happy  there  as  she  was  at  home,  but  if  she  does  not 
get  on  well  with  the  others,  there  is  no  one  who  can 
save  her  from  misery. 

One  bright  little  girl  called  Runabai  left  her  father’s 
house  to  go  to  her  husband  when  she  was  eleven  years 
old.  Her  father  had  been  sorry  when  she  was  born, 
but  she  was  so  loving  and  happy  that  everyone  had 
grown  very  fond  of  her,  and  she  went  away  with 
beautiful  Saris 1 and  many  flashing  jewels.  Her 
father  was  a wealthy  man,  so  he  sent  twelve  maids 
with  his  little  daughter  to  wait  on  her,  and  keep 
everything  about  her  as  nice  as  it  had  been  when 
she  still  stayed  in  his  house.  But  her  husband’s 
family  did  not  like  her.  They  took  away  all  her 
beautiful  clothes  and  jewels,  and  instead  of  letting 
her  twelve  maids  wait  on  her,  they  made  her  work 
very  hard  herself,  and  do  much  more  than  she  had 
strength  for. 

Then  before  a year  had  passed  they  began  to  starve 
her.  She  was  only  allowed  to  eat  once  a day,  and  then 
all  the  food  she  was  allowed  to  have  was  rice  and  red 
peppers.  One  day  she  was  cleaning  the  house,  and  she 
saw  a little  piece  of  bread  on  the  table.  She  was  hungry, 
and  she  was  only  twelve  years  old,  so  she  picked  it 
up  and  began  to  eat  it.  But  before  she  had  time  to 
swallow  a mouthful  her  mother-in-law  caught  her. 
She  took  the  bread  and  pushed  it  down  the  little  girl’s 
throat  with  a stick. 

Little  Runabai  was  sometimes  allowed  to  go  home 
to  see  her  people.  One  time  she  begged  them  to  keep 
1 Woman’s  garments. 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


41 


her  with  them,  and  not  to  allow  her  to  go  back  to  the 
terrible  life  she  had  to  lead.  Her  father  was  very  sad. 
The  tears  were  in  his  eyes,  but  he  was  afraid  of  the 
disgrace  it  would  be  to  his  family  if  he  kept  her  from 
her  husband.  He  knew  that  his  caste  would  be  broken 
if  he  did.  So  in  spite  of  his  sorrow  he  said,  “ Go  back, 
and  if  you  die  it  will  be  honourable.”  She  did  go  back, 
and  in  two  months  she  did  die,  and  her  father  and 
mother  mourned  for  her,  but  they  comforted  themselves 
with  the  thought  that  she  had  died  honourably  ! 

But  though  a Hindu  wife  is  often  free  from  the  pain 
and  misery  that  killed  this  one,  there  is  always  a great 
fear  that  hangs  over  her,  for  her  husband  may  die, 
and  then  she  will  be  a widow.  If  a little  wife  dies, 
her  husband  may  marry  again,  but  a high  caste  Hindu 
widow  must  never  marry  a second  time.  Often 
little  girls  are  married  to  full  grown  men  ; sometimes, 
even,  they  are  married  to  old  men,  so  it  very  often 
happens  that  a girl  becomes  a widow  when  she  is 
only  a child,  and  there  are  Hindu  widows  who  are  not 
one  year  old.  At  first  the  child  may  not  know  that 
there  is  any  change  in  her  life,  but  as  she  begins  to 
grow  older  she  finds  that  all  the  hard  work  is  left  for 
her,  and  that  no  one  wishes  to  see  her  when  a feast 
or  a wedding  is  held,  or  when  anything  bright  is  going 
on.  Then  one  day  a priest  comes  to  her  village,  and 
to  the  house  where  she  lives.  She  is  not  afraid  of  him, 
for  she  knows  no  reason  why  he  should  be  angry  with 
her.  But  he  is  angry  with  her.  He  says  her  beautiful 
black  hair  must  be  cut  off,  and  soon  the  barber  comes 
and  shaves  her  head  all  over.  After  that  time  she 


42 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


is  only  allowed  to  eat  one  meal  a day,  and  twice  a 
month  she  does  not  even  get  that  one  meal.  She 
has  to  wear  a rough  Sari  that  lets  everyone  know 
that  she  is  a widow  even  if  she  covers  up  her  little 
close-shaved  head,  and  in  some  cases  she  only  has 
that  one  dress  for  night  wear  and  day  wear  till  it  is 
so  ragged  that  it  will  scarcely  hold  together. 

Besides  all  that,  the  friends  of  her  husband  think 
that  they  cannot  be  too  cruel  to  her,  because  they 
believe  that  she  must  have  done  something  very 
wrong  indeed  in  one  of  the  lives  she  lived  long  before, 
and  that  it  is  because  of  that,  that  she  is  a widow. 
They  think  that  if  their  boy  had  married  another  wife 
he  would  still  be  well  and  bright. 

But  though  girls  suffer  far  more  from  the  early 
marriages  of  India  than  boys  do,  the  boys  have  to  bear 
many  unnecessary  burdens  because  of  them.  They 
have  to  work  hard  in  order  to  help  to  get  food  for  the 
household,  and  wee  boys  labour  for  long  days  in  the 
rice  fields.  They  guide  the  oxen  at  the  plough, 
and  they  carry  the  pots  of  water  from  rivers  and 
canals  to  fill  the  little  channels  that  water  the 
fields ; and  sometimes,  even  with  all  these  early 
years  of  toil,  a young  man  finds  that  he  cannot 
feed  his  family  or  give  gifts  to  the  gods.  Then  he 
goes  to  a money-lender,  and  if  he  once  does  that,  there 
is  little  happiness  for  him  or  for  his  children,  for  the 
money-lender  will  take  everything  from  him,  his  jewels, 
his  wife’s  jewels,  her  clothes,  all  but  the  plainest 
which  she  keeps  to  wear ; and  then  perhaps  his  fields 
will  have  to  go  too,  and  the  cruel  money-lender  will 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


43 


send  men  to  watch  the  rice,  and  the  millet,  and  the 
wheat  as  they  grow,  for  fear  any  of  the  crop  should  be 
reaped  without  his  knowledge. 

But  before  a Hindu  boy  marries  he  has  been  taught 
how  he  must  worship  the  gods.  A little  Brahman  boy 
puts  on  the  sacred  thread  which  marks  his  caste,  and 
which  he  wears  over  his  right  shoulder,  when  he  is 
eight  or  nine  years  old ; from  that  time  onwards  he 
must  keep  all  the  rules  of  his  caste.  When  the  thread 
is  first  put  on  a priest  whispers  into  the  boy’s  ear  the 
sacred  text  or  “ mantra  ” of  his  family.  He  must 
remember  it  well,  for  he  will  have  to  repeat  it  over 
and  over  again  each  morning  before  bathing  and  then 
again  each  evening.  He  must  always  repeat  his  text 
and  bathe  before  he  tastes  food.  If  he  is  a good  boy, 
he  will  say  his  text  over  and  over  again  very  often. 
In  some  parts  of  India  he  must  not  stop  until  he  has 
said  it  one  hundred  and  eight  times. 

The  sacred  thread  is  not  the  only  mark  by  which 
a boy  shows  his  caste  or  the  god  he  worships.  He  may 
have  a white  V marked  on  his  forehead,  or  a yellow 
W,  or  a wavy  line  right  across,  with  perhaps  a grain 
of  rice  stuck  in  the  centre,  and  if  he  is  going  to  a feast 
he  will  have  a bright  red  dot  there  too. 

Hindu  boys  repeat  the  names  of  their  gods  as  well 
as  the  sacred  text  of  their  caste.  One  little  boy  who 
wished  to  be  very  careful  that  he  worshipped  his  gods 
well  used  to  say,  “ Rama,  Rama,  Rama,”  until  he  had 
said  the  name  twelve  thousand,  five  hundred  times  ; 
and  then  he  said,  “ Siva,  Siva,  Siva,”  six  thousand, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  times,  every  day. 


44 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


There  are  special  days  and  weeks  at  each  shrine 
and  temple,  when  there  is  more  merit  in  offering  gifts 
than  at  other  times,  and  on  these  days  people  throng 
to  lay  their  presents  before  the  gods.  They  bring  oil  or 
camphor  for  the  priest  to  burn  in  a censer  which  has  a 
large  lamp  in  the  centre  for  the  camphor  and  five  small 
ones  round  it  for  the  oil,  and  when  the  priest  lights  the 
lamps  he  waves  the  censer  before  the  idol,  and  the  sweet 
scent  of  the  camphor  fills  the  shrine.  Others  bring 
melted  butter  and  rice,  and  others  fruit  and  flowers. 
Marigolds  are  the  favourite  flowers  to  bring,  and  the 
temple  steps  are  strewn  with  them.  But  with  all 
the  other  offerings  there  must  be,  if  possible,  a little 
money,  for  the  priest  will  look  eagerly  to  see  if  there 
are  any  pice  1 in  the  offering. 

There  is  no  place  to  which  larger  crowds  of  people 
go  to  worship  than  Benares,  and  if  a boy  is  lucky 
enough  to  be  there  he  will  see  many  curious  sights. 
He  might  see  these  things  in  other  cities  too,  but 
not  so  many  of  them  all  together. 

The  strangest  people  he  will  see  are  the  Fakirs. 
They  wander  about  from  city  to  city  and  from  temple 
to  temple,  and  live  entirely  on  the  gifts  that  are  given 
to  them  by  the  devout.  Even  if  a Hindu  does  not 
wish  to  be  kind  and  generous,  he  will  give  a gift  to  a 
Fakir,  because  he  believes  that  if  the  Fakir  curses 
him  his  rice  will  wither  on  its  stem,  his  cattle 
and  his  children  will  sicken  and  die,  and  ill-luck 
will  follow  him  in  everything.  So  the  very  shadow 
of  a Fakir  is  held  sacred,  and  no  one  will  cross 
1 Very  small  coins. 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS  45 

it  lest  harm  should  come  to  him  for  his  want  of 
reverence. 

The  Fakir  wears  as  little  clothes  as  possible,  but 
he  covers  his  body  with  mud  and  ashes,  and  makes 
his  hair  stick  out  in  all  sorts  of  uncouth  forms  with 
gum  and  clay.  He  wears  a rope  or  some  strings  of 
beads  round  his  neck.  Sometimes  he  whitewashes 
his  face,  and  paints  lines  on  it,  and  makes  himself  still 
more  uncanny-looking  than  he  already  is  with  his  thin 
body  and  his  wild  hair.  He  has  a boy  whom  he  calls 
his  “ Chela  " with  him,  and  a brass  bowl,  and  nothing 
else.  The  boy  goes  out  with  the  bowl  at  breakfast 
time,  and  begs  till  it  is  full ; then  he  comes  back  to 
the  Fakir  where  he  rests  on  the  temple  steps,  or  under 
a cart,  or  by  the  wayside,  to  eat  the  meal  with  him. 
The  Fakir  himself  should  never  beg,  for  the  gods  he 
worships  are  supposed  to  send  him  all  he  needs,  and  if 
he  receives  nothing  from  them,  he  must  starve. 
Some  Fakirs  are  earnest  men  who  seek  to  live  up  to  the 
best  they  know,  and  some  are  only  idle  loafers  who 
wish  to  have  an  easy  life,  and  to  get  as  much  as 
they  can  by  trading  on  the  hopes  and  fears  of  other 
people. 

Amongst  them  there  are  many  men  who  have 
wonderful  powers  of  conjuring  and  of  second  sight. 
No  one  can  explain  the  tricks  they  do,  and  there  is 
a weirdness  about  the  men  that  adds  to  the  weirdness 
of  their  doings.  Many  an  English  child  would  run  home 
in  terror  at  the  mere  sight  of  a Fakir.  But  the  sight 
of  a Fakir  is  not  nearly  so  eerie  as  the  sight  of  some 
of  the  things  he  seems  to  do.  One  of  these  men  will 


46 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


suddenly  appear  to  climb  up  into  the  air  going  hand 
over  hand  on  a rope  that  is  not  there,  till  he  vanishes 
into  the  sky.  In  a few  minutes  he  will  come  quietly 
along  the  street  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Another 
will  take  a piece  of  rope,  whirl  it  round  his  head,  and 
toss  it  into  the  air,  where  it  will  seem  to  the  onlookers 
to  stand  so  firm  and  strong  that  a man  can  climb 
it,  though  it  is  not  fastened  to  anything.  One  of  the 
commonest  of  these  wonderful  things  is  to  make  a 
plant  grow  while  the  crowd  watch.  The  Fakir  takes  a 
mango  fruit,  opens  it,  and  lifts  out  the  seeds.  He  has  a 
little  tub  of  earth  into  which  he  drops  them,  and  as 
the  bystanders  watch,  they  see  a mango  tree  grow  up, 
and  bear  fruit  before  them. 

The  chela  sees  these  things,  and  gradually  learns 
the  secrets  that  belong  to  them,  so  that  when  his  Fakir 
dies  he  is  ready  to  take  his  place  and  be  a Fakir  himself. 

The  ways  in  which  the  gods  are  worshipped  vary 
greatly.  Some  of  the  idols  are  washed  and  dressed 
and  fed  each  morning,  and  bathed  and  put  to  bed  each 
night,  and  there  are  long  rites  that  are  performed  in 
the  temples.  But,  there  are  also  many  wayside 
shrines  where  men  and  women  lay  their  offerings  as 
they  pass,  and  murmur  a few  words  of  prayer. 

Often  a new  idol  is  found.  For  the  Hindus  think 
that  the  spirit  of  a god  may  enter  an  animal  or  a stone 
or  a tree  as  the  spirit  of  a man  may  enter  any  one  of 
these. 

One  day  a Brahman  priest  lay  in  a temple  court, 
drowsy  and  troubled.  The  reason  of  his  trouble  was 
that  plague  was  in  the  city  and  the  people  fled  from  it, 


A WAYSIDE  SHRINK 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


47 


and  the  offerings  that  were  brought  to  the  temple 
were  poor  and  small.  The  priest  was  full  of  dread 
alike  of  the  plague  and  of  the  poverty  that  would  face 
him,  if  the  gifts  to  the  temple  grew  less  and  less.  Soon 
the  drowsiness  grew  stronger  than  his  anxious  thoughts, 
and  he  fell  asleep.  As  he  slept  he  dreamt  that  a great 
goddess  appeared  to  him,  and  told  him  that  she  had 
come  to  the  city  in  a block  of  stone,  but  that  she  had 
not  been  worshipped,  and  so  she  was  angry  with  the 
people,  and  had  sent  the  plague,  and  that  if  honour 
were  not  done  to  her  she  would  send  fire  to  finish  the 
work  that  plague  had  begun.  She  wished  the  people 
of  the  place  to  hold  a feast,  and  then  to  carry  the 
stone  in  which  she  lived  away  hundreds  of  miles  over 
the  country  to  Benares. 

The  priest  wakened,  and,  as  he  thought  of  his 
dream,  he  remembered  a great  block  of  black  marble 
that  lay  beside  a temple  that  had  just  been  built  in 
the  city.  Ere  the  women  came  to  gather  round  him 
that  day  after  offering  their  gifts  in  his  temple,  the 
priest  had  thought  out  the  meaning  of  his  dream, 
and  he  told  it  to  them,  as  they  gazed  in  awe  and  fear. 
He  said  that  the  stone  in  which  the  goddess  dwelt 
should  have  been  polished,  and  set  up  to  guard  the 
entrance  to  the  new  temple  ; but  the  workmen  had 
not  seen  that  the  stone  was  a special  one,  and  had  left 
it  aside,  and  the  goddess  in  her  anger  had  burned  up 
the  fields.  The  women  sighed,  for  this  part  of  the 
story  was  only  too  true.  The  fields  were  hard  and 
bare,  because  there  had  been  no  rain,  and  the  river 
beds  were  dry.  Plague  had  followed  famine,  and 


48 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


death  was  at  the  door.  But  the  priest  told  of  more 
terrible  things  yet,  for  he  said  that  Mariamma,  the 
angry  goddess,  would  send  fire  if  she  were  not  honoured 
speedily. 

The  story  of  the  priest  was  soon  known  throughout 
the  city,  for  each  one  told  it  to  another.  Within  a 
few  days  fire  broke  out  in  the  palace  of  the  Maharajah 
there.  The  fire  as  it  raged  and  destroyed  the  beauti- 
ful building  made  everyone  sure  of  the  truth  of  the 
priest’s  vision,  and  hurried  plans  were  made  to  have 
the  goddess  in  the  stone  carried  one  stage  towards 
Benares. 

The  people  thronged  round  the  marble  block.  The 
new  temple  stood  near,  but  all  eyes  were  on  the  stone, 
not  on  the  temple.  Then  the  priests  began  their  work. 
They  washed  the  stone  all  over  with  milk  lest  anything 
might  have  soiled  it  while  it  lay  untended.  Then 
they  brought  cocoa  nuts  and  limes  to  lay  before  it. 
After  that  it  was  wreathed  with  garlands  and  painted 
with  saffron,  and  lamps  were  swung  backwards  and 
forwards  which  filled  the  night  air  with  the  scent  of 
burning  camphor. 

The  crowd  watched  eagerly,  and  when  the  great 
stone  with  its  added  weight  of  flowers  was  lifted  on  to 
the  shoulders  of  eight  men,  their  joy  burst  out  in 
shouts,  for  did  they  not  know  that  famine  and 
plague  and  death  would  leave  their  city  with  the 
goddess. 

Music  and  lights  marked  the  great  procession  as  it 
wound  its  way  through  the  narrow  darkened  streets. 
Without  the  city  gate  eight  men  waited  to  carry  the 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


49 


idol  forward.  Many  of  those  who  had  followed  it 
through  the  streets  turned  back,  but  some  pressed 
on  to  see  the  stone  pass  into  the  hands  of  new  bearers 
at  the  next  village.  There  the  lights,  the  music,  and 
the  gaily  decked  stone  struck  awe  into  the  minds  of 
the  village-folk,  and  they  fell  in  worship  before  the 
block,  and  hastened  to  find  men  to  bear  it  on.  So  the 
black  marble  block  travelled  over  many  miles  of  the 
land.  It  never  reached  Benares,  for  a priest  on  the  way 
dreamt  another  dream  about  it.  He  dreamt  that  Mari- 
amma  wished  to  rest  in  his  village,  so  he  had  a shrine 
built  for  her ; and  there,  amidst  lamps  and  garlands, 
the  unused  stone  received  the  worship  of  the  people 
from  the  country  round,  and  the  priest  grew  wealthy 
by  the  gifts  that  were  brought  to  the  goddess  in  the 
marble.  But  the  other  priest,  Ramachandra,  died 
of  the  plague  which  he  had  said  would  leave  the  city 
with  the  angry  goddess. 

Some  Hindu  gods  look  very  terrible.  One  of 
these  that  is  commonly  worshipped  is  called  Ganesa, 
and  he  has  a man’s  body  with  an  elephant's 
head.  Whenever  a Hindu  is  going  to  begin  a new 
piece  of  work,  or  to  do  something  important,  he  makes 
offerings  to  Ganesa,  for  he  believes  that  the  elephant- 
headed god  can  take  obstacles  out  of  the  way  and  give 
success. 

There  was  a little  boy  in  Madras  called  Rama- 
swami,  who  went  to  worship  Ganesa  for  the  first  time. 
As  he  trotted  down  through  the  bazaar  by  his  mother’s 
side  he  chatted  gaily.  He  had  garlands  on  his  arms, 
and  his  hands  were  full  of  incense.  He  had  listened 
D 


50 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


to  his  mother  when  she  told  him  how  to  lay  his  gifts 
in  the  god’s  lap,  and  when  to  bow  to  the  god,  but  he 
was  not  thinking  much  about  the  god  or  the  gifts. 

The  temple  was  a small  place,  as  Hindu  temples 
often  are,  for  crowds  of  people  do  not  worship  in  them 
together.  One  by  one,  or  in  small  groups,  they  bring 
their  gifts,  offer  them  to  the  idol,  and  turn  away. 

The  doors  of  this  temple  were  wide  open,  and 
Ganesa  sat  in  the  gloom  inside,  right  opposite  the 
entrance.  The  boy  saw  a black  figure  as  large  as  a 
man  on  the  back  of  a great  stone  rat.  The  eyes,  the 
tusks  and  the  red  mouth  of  the  elephant-head  gleamed 
out  of  the  darkness,  and  the  trunk  was  lifted  up  at  one 
side,  as  if  it  would  strike  anyone  who  came  near. 

Ramaswami  screamed  with  terror,  and  hid  behind 
one  of  the  pillars  from  the  dreadful  god.  His  mother 
had  grown  used  to  the  appearance  of  the  idol,  and  she 
only  laughed  at  her  wee  boy  for  his  fear.  She  pulled 
him  from  his  hiding-place,  but  before  she  could  drag 
him  to  Ganesa  he  had  slipped  from  her  grasp,  and  had 
run  wildly  down  the  street.  When  she  saw  that  he 
was  gone  she  hurried  after  him,  and  when  she  caught 
him  she  was  breathless  and  cross.  She  pushed  him 
back  before  her  and  said,  “ You  little  fool.  Is  your 
father’s  son  going  to  be  a coward  ? The  god  will  not 
strike  you.  Don’t  you  see  he  is  made  of  stone  and 
cannot  move  ? ” At  last  Ramaswami  stood  close 
before  Ganesa,  but  his  terror  was  still  as  great  as  ever. 
He  threw  down  the  garlands  and  the  incense,  but  he 
forgot  all  his  mother  had  told  him  of  the  way  in  which 
to  give  them,  and  the  movements  of  worship  to  make 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


51 


before  the  idol,  and  when  his  hands  were  at  length 
empty  of  the  offerings  he  wriggled  once  more  from 
his  mother,  and  fled  as  if  the  elephant-headed  god 
was  at  his  heels. 

But  all  Hindu  boys  are  not  frightened  of  the  idols. 
There  seem  always  to  have  been  those  who  wished 
something  greater  to  worship  than  a stone,  and  who 
could  not  believe  that  any  good  would  come  of  senseless 
offerings.  One  of  these  was  called  Chikka.  His  home 
was  in  a village  in  Mysore,  and  one  day  a friend  came  to 
it  with  an  image  of  Lakshmi,  the  goddess  of  fortune, 
and  asked  Chikka’s  father  to  take  care  of  the  idol  for 
him.  Not  long  after  that  Chikka’s  father  found  that 
he  must  leave  the  village.  He  did  not  wish  to  carry 
Lakshmi  with  him,  so  he  laid  her  carefully  in  a box, 
and  gave  her  to  the  village  priest  that  he  might  take 
care  of  her.  Misfortune  came  to  the  friend  who  had 
left  the  idol,  and  he  began  to  fear  that  it  was  because 
he  had  not  been  worshipping  the  goddess,  so  he 
hurried  to  the  village  to  which  Chikka  and  his  father 
had  gone,  and  said  to  the  boy,  “ Come  along  with  me, 
and  we  will  fetch  Lakshmi  here  and  worship  her 
together.”  Chikka  was  only  ten  years  old  then,  but 
he  had  thought  out  some  things  for  himself,  and  he 
said,  “ The  goddess  Lakshmi  has  left  us  poor,  while 
you  are  rich.  When  she  gives  us  good  fortune  we 
will  worship  her,  but  not  till  then.”  His  father  was 
angry  when  he  heard  what  Chikka  had  said,  but  his 
anger  did  not  have  any  effect  on  the  boy,  for  only  a 
year  later  he  did  a far  more  daring  thing.  He  and 
his  brothers  and  sisters  were  ill,  and  a fortune-teller 


52 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


was  called  in  to  say  what  the  parents  should  do  to 
make  them  well.  This  man  said  that  the  reason  of 
the  illness  was  that  no  one  in  the  house  had  been 
worshipping  serpents.  So  two  old  stone  serpent  idols 
were  brought  out  and  consecrated.  But  though  the 
others  did  honour  to  them  Chikka  would  not.  He 
watched  for  a time  when  no  one  was  beside  to  inter- 
fere with  him,  and  then  he  broke  the  stone  snakes  into 
pieces  and  threw  the  fragments  away.  When  his 
father  found  out  what  had  been  done  he  was  extremely 
angry.  He  was  frightened  too,  for  he  thought  that 
some  terrible  harm  would  come  to  them  all  because 
Chikka  had  insulted  the  idols.  But  in  a few  days  the 
children  were  well  again,  and  no  other  hurtful  thing 
had  happened  to  them,  so  Chikka  won  his  parents 
over  to  his  side,  and  they  ceased  to  believe  in  the 
serpent  god. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  KING  OF  INDIA 

Once  upon  a time  a boy  was  bom  in  a manger  in 
Bethlehem.  When  He  was  still  a child  wise  men  from 
the  East  came  to  worship  and  to  lay  gifts  before  Him, 
because  they  had  seen  a star  which  guided  them  to 
His  cradle,  and  they  knew  that  He  was  born  to  be  a 
King.  The  wise  men  worshipped  the  child  and  re- 
turned to  their  homes  in  the  East,  and  the  child  grew 
up  to  be  a man.  And  when  He  had  reached  the  full 
age  of  a man  He  went  about  in  His  own  land,  and 


THE  KING  OF  INDIA 


53 


taught  and  healed  the  sick,  and  there  gathered 
around  Him  a band  of  men  who  walked  through 
the  fields  and  villages  with  Him.  And  as  they 
walked  with  Him,  it  came  to  be  known  among 
them  that  this  man  was  no  other  than  the  Son  of 
God,  that  He  had  come  to  live  on  earth  to  save 
mankind  from  sin,  and  that  He  was  indeed  the  ruler 
of  all  the  peoples  of  the  world.  By  and  by  wicked 
men  put  Him  to  death  on  the  Cross,  and  those  who 
had  walked  with  Him  were  in  deep  sadness.  But  on 
the  third  day  they  saw  Him  again,  and  they  were 
glad,  because  they  knew  now  that  He  was  greater 
than  death ; and  they  knew,  what  they  had  only 
guessed  before,  that  He  was  indeed  God.  These 
men  thought  that  their  own  nation  was  cared  for  by 
God  more  than  others,  but  after  their  Master  had 
withdrawn  Himself  from  their  sight.  He  taught  them 
that  all  the  world  is  beloved  of  God,  and  that  in  each 
land  He  must  reign.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  as  these 
early  followers  of  the  King  wandered  hither  and 
thither,  when  they  came  to  countries  that  they  had 
never  seen  before,  they  said  each  to  the  other,  the 
men  of  these  lands  too  are  the  servants  of  the  King, 
though  they  do  not  know  Him ; let  us  tell  them  of  His 
nobleness,  and  of  the  glory  of  His  kingdom.  In  this 
manner  the  subjects  of  the  King  grew  rapidly  in 
number,  and  they  came  to  be  called  Christians,  because 
of  the  name  of  Christ,  or  Saviour,  by  which  they  spoke 
often  of  their  King.  At  that  time  there  was  much 
commerce  between  the  nations  of  the  East,  and  great 
caravans  with  the  rich  wealth  of  India  came  to  the 


54 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


places  in  which  the  Christians  dwelt.  And  when 
men  saw  all  these  riches,  they  said  let  us  also  go 
there,  that  we  may  heap  up  to  ourselves  gems 
and  gold.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  families  of  Jews 
and  of  Persians  bade  farewell  to  the  friends  and 
neighbours  of  their  youth,  took  the  long  journey  across 
the  desert,  and  made  their  home  on  the  hot  shores  of 
India.  And  amongst  the  families  who  went  there, 
there  were  some  who  had  owned  the  Child  of  Bethlehem 
as  their  King,  and  because  those  who  truly  know  Him 
find  Him  so  good  a King  that  they  wish  all  men  to  serve 
Him,  these  early  settlers  spoke  of  Him  to  those  with 
whom  they  met,  and  they  won  many  of  the  simple 
folk  of  India.  But  the  hot  airs  of  the  Indian  valleys, 
and  the  strange  faiths  and  fears  of  the  peoples  there, 
closed  in  on  the  little  bands  of  Christians.  They  still 
named  Him  their  King,  but  they  did  not  any  longer 
obey  the  laws  of  His  kingdom,  so  the  strange  wor- 
ship they  saw  around  them  had  power  to  lessen  their 
first  eagerness.  Down  through  the  years  they  have 
owned  the  name  of  Christ,  but  much  of  the  spirit  of 
His  kingdom  has  been  lost. 

But  elsewhere  the  subjects  of  the  new  King 
pressed  forward.  And  ever  when  they  remembered 
that  He  had  conquered  death,  and  was  a living 
monarch  whom  they  must  obey,  they  did  great 
deeds  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  that  He  had  bidden 
them  win  for  Him.  Hundreds  of  years  passed  on, 
and  the  countries  of  Europe  all  owned  the  reign  of 
the  Son  of  God  in  name,  though  many  of  the  people 
there  thought  but  little  of  obeying  His  laws.  The 


THE  KING  OF  INDIA 


55 


commerce  of  India  no  longer  came  to  Europe  chiefly 
by  the  hot  desert  routes.  Great  ships  sailed  from  the 
ports  of  Europe  to  harbours  in  India  ; and  Spain, 
Portugal,  Holland,  France,  Germany,  Denmark  and 
England  each  held  possessions  on  the  shores  of  India 
that  had  been  given  to  them  by  those  who  ruled  the 
greater  part  of  the  country — the  warlike  followers 
of  the  prophet. 

And  so,  because  these  nations  held  land  in  India, 
their  people  spoke  often  of  the  men  and  women  who 
dwelt  in  it,  and  of  their  trade  and  wealth.  And  the 
stories  of  travellers  were  heard  with  wonder  round 
the  fires  of  northern  Europe,  and  under  the  sunny 
skies  of  Spain. 

Now  though  there  were  many  Europeans  who 
cared  for  nothing  except  to  get  as  much  ease  and 
comfort  for  themselves  as  they  could,  and  who 
would  not  give  up  anything  for  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  there  were  many  others  who  thought  much  of 
that  kingdom  ; and  when  they  heard  that  a new  bit 
of  land  had  been  given  to  their  country  on  the  Coro- 
mandel Coast  or  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  they  longed  to 
know  that  the  people  who  dwelt  in  it  had  been  won 
for  Christ.  And  when  they  heard  stories  of  the  cruel 
and  dark  deeds  that  were  done  to  please  the  idols 
there,  they  longed  to  have  the  worshippers  know  that 
the  real  King  of  the  world  is  served  by  good  deeds,  not 
by  bad  ones.  And  so  as  these  thoughts  grew  amongst 
them,  Christ  the  King  came  once  more  to  earth, 
and  laid  His  Commission  on  men  and  on  women, 
and  said  to  them,  as  He  had  said  long  ago  to 


56 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


other  followers,  “ Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  lo  I 
am  with  you  alway.”  Thus  men  went  from  Germany 
and  from  England  and  from  Scotland  and  from 
America,  and  at  this  day  the  army  of  Christ’s  followers 
in  India,  who  have  gone  there  from  other  countries, 
is  great  and  strong,  and  throughout  the  land  the 
tokens  of  the  kingdom  that  is  to  be,  can  be  seen  to-day. 
There  are  churches  where  Indian  men  and  women, 
who  have  welcomed  their  King,  meet  to  worship  Him. 
There  are  colleges  where  boys  and  girls  can  learn  of 
the  greatness  of  His  work  in  the  world.  There  are 
hospitals  and  leper  homes,  where  the  followers  of  Him 
who  healed  the  sick  in  Galilee  labour  to  heal  and  help 
some  of  the  sore  sickness  of  India.  And  still  more 
real  beginnings  of  His  kingdom  are  seen  in  the  lives  of 
the  men  and  women  and  the  boys  and  girls  who  have 
found  Him  and  loved  Him. 

But  though  Christ  is  the  King  of  India,  those  who 
own  His  sway  there  are  only  very  very  few,  and  He 
still  needs  those  who  love  His  thoughts  and  His 
kingdom  in  other  lands  to  help  to  carry  His  message 
more  and  more  into  the  heart  of  India. 


CHAPTER  X 

NEW  SIGHTS  IN  INDIA 

Men  and  women  have  gone  to  India  to  tell  of  the  King 
of  the  world,  and  because  of  that  new  things  are 
coming  into  the  lives  of  the  children  there.  There  is 


NEW  SIGHTS  IN  INDIA 


57 


great  excitement  when  a European  is  seen  for  the 
first  time  in  an  Indian  village.  One  day  the  boys  of 
Holapura  heard  that  an  English  lady  had  entered 
the  house  of  the  headman  of  the  place.  They  left 
their  games  and  hurried  to  the  hut,  but  ere  they  got 
there,  it  was  crowded  to  the  door,  so  they  climbed  on 
the  roof  and  looked  down  through  the  holes  in  the 
thatch.  As  they  looked  in  they  saw  the  crowded 
room  and  the  white  lady.  A woman  was  bringing 
out  a blanket  from  a dark  inner  room,  and  was  spread- 
ing it  on  a mound  of  earth,  which  did  for  a seat,  and 
now  the  white  lady  sat  down  and  the  boys  gazed 
and  listened.  They  saw  a streamlet  of  water  trickling 
across  the  mud  floor  at  her  feet ; they  saw  the  little 
room  packed  with  women  and  boys  and  babies,  and  in 
amongst  them  they  saw  the  household  cow,  the  goats, 
and  some  chickens  ; but  these  things  did  not  astonish 
the  boys  at  all ; they  had  often  seen  a crowded  hut 
before,  and  even  when  Ruthamma,  an  Indian  Chris- 
tian teacher  who  was  with  the  white  missionary,  began 
to  speak,  they  scarcely  listened,  for  all  their  attention 
was  fixed  on  the  stranger.  But  they  began  to  listen 
a little  when  she  sang  “ What  a friend  we  have  in 
Jesus  ” in  their  own  language.  Before  many  lines 
had  been  sung  a goat  made  up  its  mind  to  go  out, 
and  there  was  so  much  bustle  amongst  the  children 
about  his  going  that  Ruthamma  had  to  stop  and  begin 
her  hymn  over  again.  The  boys  listened  eagerly, 
till  suddenly  they  heard  a swoop  and  a whiz  through 
the  air.  They  shrank  back,  for  vultures  are  not  nice 
birds,  and  this  one  was  coming  very  near.  It 


58 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


shot  past  them  through  the  hole  in  the  thatch 
into  the  room.  A dead  fowl  hung  from  the  roof. 
The  bird  clutched  it  and  flew  away  again.  The  fowl 
was  gone ; everyone  rushed  out  and  shouted  to  make 
the  vulture  drop  it.  But  the  bird  would  not,  and 
when  it  had  flown  far  far  away  from  the  village,  the 
little  group  gathered  again.  But  this  had  spent  much 
time,  and  Ruth  hurried  on  in  spite  of  a lively  quarrel 
between  two  wee  boys,  who,  when  their  grandmother 
tried  to  catch  them,  vanished  underneath  the  cow, 
to  sit  and  make  faces  at  each  other  there,  and  be  quite 
ready  to  begin  to  fight  again  when  the  missionaries 
had  gone. 

That  is  how  some  children  first  hear  of  the  King  of 
India.  But  of  course  they  understand  little  of  what 
they  hear  for  a long  time.  Sometimes  the  children 
catch  up  the  tunes  and  the  words  of  the  new  songs,  so 
unlike  their  old  ones,  and  remember  them.  In  a town 
far  from  this  village,  a missionary  was  riding  along 
the  street  one  day,  when  he  heard  a sound  that  seemed 
familiar.  He  checked  his  horse  and  looked  and 
listened.  No  one  in  the  side  street  noticed  him. 
There  he  saw  a little  Hindu  boy  with  Hindu  men  and 
women  around  him.  He  was  singing  away  heartily 
in  Telugu  : — 

" Jesus  loves  me,  this  I know. 

For  the  Bible  tells  me  so  ! ” 

When  the  verse  was  finished  a Hindu  asked 
him  : — 

“ Little  fellow,  where  did  you  learn  that  song  ? ” 

“ Over  at  the  school.” 


NEW  SIGHTS  IN  INDIA 


59 


" Who  is  Jesus,  and  what  is  the  Bible  ? ” 

" Oh,  the  Bible  is  the  book  sent  from  God,  they  say, 
to  teach  us  how  to  get  to  heaven  ; and  Jesus  is  the  name 
of  the  divine  Redeemer  that  came  into  the  world  to 
save  us  from  sins : that  is  what  the  missionaries 
say.” 

“ Well,  the  song  is  a nice  one  anyhow ; come  sing 
us  some  more.” 

But  it  is  not  only  when  words  are  spoken  or  sung 
that  the  traces  of  the  King  are  seen  in  India.  One 
of  the  most  important  things  that  happens  there  is 
the  digging  of  a well,  and  here  are  some  boys  who  are 
talking  excitedly  about  a new  well  in  their  village. 
Let  us  hear  what  they  are  saying 

“Yes,  truly  they  got  water — beautiful  clear  water, 
and  it  rushed  in  so  fast  that  the  men  who  dug  had 
to  flee  for  their  lives.” 

“ And  yet  they  did  not  have  a Brahman  to  bless 
it?” 

“ No,  I have  told  you  they  follow  Christ.  They  do 
not  obey  the  Brahmans.” 

“Tell  us  what  they  did.” 

“ It  was  the  time  of  heat  ! The  river  was  dried  up, 
and  the  new  buildings  of  the  Christians  were  almost 
finished.  But  as  it  was  not  fitting  that  this  new 
religion  should  find  shelter  in  our  village,  our  priests 
had  tried  to  prevent  them  from  getting  land.  They 
did  not  succeed  in  that,  but  they  forbade  the  Christian 
people  to  drink  from  the  wells  of  the  village,  and  be- 
hold the  river  was  dry.  The  face  of  Raghu,  the 
leader  of  the  Christian  folk,  was  sad,  for  what  can  man 


60 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


do  without  water  ? But  he  went  away  to  consult 
the  foreign  teacher.  When  he  returned,  he  was  no 
longer  sad,  and  it  began  to  be  said  in  the  village  that 
the  Christians  would  dig  a well  within  their  own  ground. 
Many  heads  were  shaken,  for  no  one  thought  that  water 
could  be  found  there.  When  the  Christians  began  to 
dig  everyone  was  still  more  amazed,  for  they  did  not 
dig  at  the  lower  end  where  water  might  soon  be 
reached,  if  it  were  to  be  found  anywhere,  but  high  up, 
close  to  the  dwellings  of  the  low  caste  men.  It  was 
at  the  edge  of  their  ground,  and  we  all  gathered  to 
watch ; each  man  had  some  taunt  to  fling  at  the 
foreigners,  for  they  did  not  do  anything  to  appease 
the  gods  ; they  did  not  consult  with  the  wise  men, 
nor  call  the  priests  to  bless  the  well ; they  made  no 
offerings  at  the  temple,  nor  did  they  feast  the  Brahmans ; 
and  every  one  was  certain  that  no  water  would  be 
found.  It  is  true  they  did  pray  to  their  own  God, 
but  everyone  was  sure  He  had  not  given  them  good 
guidance,  for  a child  may  know  that  a well  should  not 
be  dug  near  the  dwellings  of  outcasts.  But  in  answer 
to  all  the  Christians  said  only,  “ We  will  surely  get 
water.”  And  they  believed  this,  for  they  worked 
on  day  after  day  through  the  great  heat  until  the  well 
was  so  deep  that  they  had  to  dig  through  rock — soft 
rock  it  was,  it  is  true,  but  still  hard  enough  to  break 
the  points  of  pickaxes.  Weeks  went  on,  and  we 
ceased  to  watch  the  well  of  the  foreigners,  or  to  taunt 
them.  It  was  an  old  story  in  the  village,  but  when 
at  any  time  we  passed  near  it  we  could  see  that  the 
digging  was  well  and  rightly  done,  and  that  if  only 


NEW  SIGHTS  IN  INDIA 


61 


water  had  been  there,  it  would  indeed  have  been  a 
great  well.  But  one  day,  as  the  village  shops  were 
quiet  in  the  heat,  there  came  a cry  down  the  street, 
and  the  sound  was  of  men  who  called,  ‘ We’ve  got 
water.’  But  we  would  not  believe  it  till  we  ran  to  the 
well.  There,  as  we  bent  over,  we  saw  depths  of  water, 
beautiful  clear  water.  The  God  of  the  foreign  people 
had  given  them  water  ! Come  and  see  the  ‘ Jesus 
Christ  well,'  and  you  will  know  that  I tell  the  truth.” . 

Another  boy  was  bitten  by  a deadly  snake.  He  was 
much  surprised  when  he  was  bitten.  He  had  gone 
out  with  his  uncle  to  work  in  the  fields.  All  through 
the  sugar-cane  fields  there  are  channels  for  water, 
and  if  anything  falls  into  these  channels  to  stop  the 
water  from  flowing  through  them  the  sugar-cane  will 
not  grow.  Timmaya  Reddi  was  pushing  along  the 
bank  of  a channel,  bending  aside  the  tall  cane  stems 
to  make  way  for  himself,  when  he  saw  that  the  flow 
of  the  water  was  checked  by  something  that  he 
thought  was  a stick.  He  struck  at  it  with  his  hook, 
and  as  he  struck,  the  reddish-brown  stick  sprang  up, 
for  it  was  a deadly  serpent.  Timmaya  leapt  back, 
but  not  in  time  to  save  himself.  The  serpent  bit 
his  ankle,  and  then  glided  off  into  the  canes.  The 
poison  was  swift  and  powerful,  and  the  boy  fell  back 
and  remembered  nothing  until  he  awoke  and  opened 
his  eyes  under  a tree  beside  the  white  doctor’s  tent. 
Timmaya  did  not  know  what  had  happened.  He 
had  not  felt  his  uncle  lift  him  and  run  with  him  to  his 
mother’s  house,  and  lay  him  there  as  if  he  were  dead. 
He  had  not  heard  the  death  wail  rise  from  the  village, 


62 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 

nor  had  he  heard  the  rush  and  clamour  when  a 
Christian  shouted,  “ The  missionary  doctor  ! Take 
the  boy  to  him.  He  came  last  night.  He  is  in  his 
tent  now.  It  is  only  a mile  away  by  the  short 
cut.” 

Thus  the  noise  went  on,  but  the  boy  was  uncon- 
scious of  it  all.  Strong  men  carried  him  by  turns, 
down  a steep  path  into  a valley,  up  the  other  side 
through  bushes  and  then  on,  over  the  fields,  till  they 
reached  the  white  doctor’s  tent. 

But  when  they  laid  him  down,  it  seemed  to 
everyone  there  too  late,  and  they  said  that  he  was 
dead  already.  One  man  alone  thought  there  was 
time  still.  He  was  the  doctor,  who  sternly  bade  the 
eager  crowd  be  silent  while  he  fought  for  the  life  of 
the  boy.  And  he  won.  In  half  an  hour  Timmaya 
opened  his  eyes  and  asked,  “ Where  am  I,”  and  in 
two  days  he  walked  back  across  the  valley  to  the 
village  where  the  death  wail  had  arisen  for  him. 

There  is  another  sad  time  at  which  many  Hindu  boys 
catch  their  first  glimpses  of  the  King  and  His  followers. 
It  is  the  time  of  famine.  One  night  a little  boy  lay 
awake,  gazing  out  at  the  sky  through  an  opening  in  the 
house.  He  watched  the  heavy  clouds  break  and  scatter, 
and  as  the  stars  shone  out,  they  brought  sadness  to  him, 
not  joy,  for  they  meant  that  the  clouds  had  broken 
and  gone,  and  that  one  more  night  must  pass  without 
rain.  As  he  lay  he  heard  the  sound  of  the  priests 
chanting  the  prayer  for  rain  at  the  temple,  and  every 
now  and  then  the  chant  was  broken  by  the  clanging 
of  bells  that  rang  out  on  the  still  air.  The  boy  thought 


NEW  SIGHTS  IN  INDIA 


63 


of  his  father,  who  was  spending  the  night  there 
at  the  temple  praying  for  rain.  Then  he  thought 
of  the  long  days  of  famine,  and  of  how  old  his  father 
looked ; and  he  remembered  how  little  that  father  had 
eaten  during  those  days  of  famine,  and  how  much 
he  had  always  tried  to  leave  to  his  mother  and  his 
brothers  and  sisters.  And  so  the  boy  passed  a restless 
night,  and  wondered  what  could  come  to  change  these 
awful  days  of  famine. 

Then  in  the  early  morning  he  heard  his  father’s 
step,  and  as  it  came  to  the  door  a wail  sounded  from 
his  mother  within.  His  brother  was  dead.  The  long 
misery  of  famine  had  been  too  much,  and  the  eldest 
son  in  the  little  home  had  died.  The  next  days  passed 
in  a dream  to  the  boy.  He  knew  that  his  father 
could  no  longer  bear  the  pain  of  watching  his  children 
die,  one  by  one,  and  he  heard  him  say  that  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  seek  the  nearest  relief  camp. 
He  remembered  that  he  was  lifted  into  a passing 
bullock  cart  along  with  his  mother  and  three  other 
children,  and  that  his  father  trudged  beside  them. 
The  driver  of  the  bullock  cart  had  been  a wealthy 
man,  but  his  servants  were  gone,  and  he  was  leading 
the  ox  to  a patch  of  prickly  pear,  the  only  green  thing 
that  was  left  in  the  whole  famine  land.  But  the 
bullock  was  as  weak  as  the  men,  and  the  sun  was  high 
ere  they  reached  the  patch  of  prickly  pear.  They 
all  ate  the  leaves  greedily,  and  would  scarcely  wait  to 
pluck  out  the  thorns.  Then  he  remembered  lying 
under  the  bullock  cart  with  his  mother  and  the  other 
children,  and  watching  his  father  and  the  bullock 


64 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


driver  disappear  in  the  distance,  and  he  remembered 
no  more  until  he  lay  in  the  clean  white  shed  that  had 
been  quickly  built  to  be  a hospital  for  the  famine 
children.  His  sisters  and  brothers  were  there  with 
him,  but  help  had  come  too  late  to  save  the  lives  of 
his  father  and  mother. 

In  these  and  countless  other  ways,  the  new  kingdom 
of  love  is  seen  in  India,  and  can  be  judged  even  by 
those  who  do  not  own  Christ  as  King.  But  there  are 
many  who  do  own  Him,  and  find  how  much  He  has 
to  give  besides  the  healing  of  bodily  ills.  You  re- 
member Chikka,  who  broke  the  serpent  idol  ? He 
was  one  of  the  first  who  learned  to  serve  Christ,  though 
he  had  to  wait  a long  time  before  he  heard  of  Him. 
Chikka’s  family  was  poor,  so  he  could  not  go  to  school, 
nor  learn  to  read  or  write,  and  for  many  years  he  had 
no  one  to  tell  him  of  any  god  other  than  the  idols  he 
despised.  He  was  nearly  forty  years  old  before  he 
heard  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  after  he  had  learned  about 
Him,  he  saw  that  He  could  do  for  him  all  that  the 
gods  of  stone  could  never  do.  Soon  he  and  the 
missionaries  urged  the  people  of  his  village  to  give  up 
worshipping  idols.  The  villagers  had  seen  that  no 
harm  had  come  to  Chikka,  and  they  began  to  think 
that  perhaps  it  was  really  true,  as  the  missionaries  said, 
that  it  was  the  worshippers  that  kept  the  god  Runga 
safe  in  his  temple,  and  not  the  idol  that  kept  them  safe. 
They  left  the  god  alone  to  see  if  he  could  take  care  of 
himself.  They  brought  him  no  fresh  flowers,  nor 
did  they  see  that  there  was  oil  in  the  lamp  that  burned 
before  him.  Very  soon  the  garlands  withered,  and 


RESCUED  FAMINE  CHILDREN 


ANANTA  THE  SEEKER 


65 


the  lamp  went  out.  The  temple  became  dirty  and 
untidy,  and  worst  of  all,  the  roof  fell  in  just  over  the 
god’s  head.  But  though  the  villagers  gave  up  the 
worship  of  the  idol,  that  did  not  mean  that  they  were 
willing  to  become  Christians.  At  Chikka’s  baptism, 
they  took  sudden  fright  lest  drops  of  water  should 
fall  on  them  by  mistake,  and  make  them  Christians 
against  their  will,  and  they  rushed  out  of  the  church 
till  they  blocked  up  the  door,  and  some  of  them  had 
to  climb  out  by  the  window. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ANANTA  THE  SEEKER 

There  have  often  been  learned  Hindu  men  who  have 
lost  their  faith  in  idols,  and  the  story  of  one  of  these 
has  so  much  to  do  with  the  lives  of  many  children  in 
India  to-day,  that  we  must  not  miss  it  out. 

Ananta  Shastri  was  a seeker  for  the  King  of 
India,  though  he  did  not  know  it ; and  his  daughter 
Ramabai  is  now  helping  hundreds  of  little  girls  to  find 
Him. 

Many  Hindus  think  that  no  woman  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  learn  to  read  or  to  write,  or  to  study  the 
sacred  books.  Even  if  a husband  is  a learned  man, 
he  cannot  talk  much  to  his  wife  about  the  things  that 
interest  him,  because  she  would  not  know  what  he 
meant. 

Ananta  Shastri  was  a very  able  man,  and  he  did  not 

E 


66 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


think  that  it  was  a good  plan  to  keep  girls  ignorant, 
but  it  was  not  easy  for  one  man  to  do  much  to  change 
this  custom  of  the  Hindus.  One  day,  as  he  was 
travelling,  he  met  another  Brahman.  The  second 
man  had  a little  daughter,  nine  years  of  age,  with  him, 
whose  name  was  Lakshmibai,  and  before  the  two 
Brahmans  parted  they  had  arranged  that  Ananta 
would  take  the  child  home  with  him  to  be  his  wife. 

The  marriage  day  is  generally  a very  gay  one,  and 
sometimes  the  brightness  and  the  excitement  help  to 
make  the  little  wife  forget  that  she  will  have  to  leave 
her  own  home,  and  all  those  whom  she  has  loved, 
and  go  away  with  a stranger,  to  be  under  the  rule  of 
her  mother-in-law  or  aunts-in-law.  But  there  were 
no  marriage  gaieties  for  Lakshmibai.  She  was  handed 
over  to  Ananta,  and  went  away  with  him,  and  she 
never  saw  her  father  or  mother  again.  But  though 
the  case  seemed  a very  hard  one,  her  lot  was  really 
much  better  than  a child  wife’s  often  is,  even  when 
all  sorts  of  gaieties  and  feasting  take  place,  for  Ananta 
was  very  kind  to  her,  and  took  her  carefully  home  to 
his  mother,  that  she  might  teach  her  all  the  duties 
of  a wife,  and  show  her  how  to  cook  and  to  grind. 
When  the  daily  work  was  done,  Ananta  wished  to 
teach  his  wife  to  read  and  write.  He  tried  again  and 
again,  but  his  own  people  always  interfered,  till  he 
saw  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  Lakshmibai  to 
learn  if  she  stayed  in  his  father’s  home.  Many  a man 
would  have  given  in,  but  he  would  not  give  in.  He 
went  away  from  his  home,  and  took  his  little  wife  with 
him  far  into  the  forest.  There  was  no  sign  of  the 


ANANTA  THE  SEEKER 


67 


life  of  man  where  they  rested  during  the  first  night. 
The  little  child  lay  in  terror  on  the  ground.  All  the 
stories  she  had  ever  heard  of  wild  beasts  and  spirits 
came  back  to  her,  and  it  did  not  need  memory  to  bring 
fear  to  her  heart,  for  right  across  a ravine  a tiger 
roared  and  prowled.  Ananta  watched  by  her  through 
the  long  night.  Soon  he  built  a hut  to  be  a home  for 
them.  Though  Lakshmibai  had  not  been  long  with 
her  mother-in-law,  she  had  learned  all  that  she  needed 
to  know  for  the  simple  out-of-doors  fife.  Now  her 
other  lessons  began  in  earnest.  She  was  a clever 
child,  and  Ananta  found  great  joy  in  teaching  her. 
The  beauty  of  the  old  Indian  poems  seemed  doubly 
great  as  he  recited  them  to  his  wife,  or  listened  to  her 
repetitions  of  them.  The  days  passed  swiftly  into 
years.  Disciples  gathered  round  Ananta,  and  soon  a 
little  dark-haired  daughter  was  born  and  then  a son. 
Both  of  them  were  taught  along  with  the  band  of 
disciples  just  as  if  they  had  both  been  boys.  Then 
another  little  baby  girl  was  born  into  the  home,  but  by 
this  time,  Ananta  was  so  busy  with  the  older  two  and 
with  his  disciples  that  he  had  no  time  to  teach  the  baby 
Ramabai,  and  all  her  early  lessons  were  given  to  her 
by  her  mother.  But  Lakshmibai  too  was  busy.  She 
had  to  fetch  water,  to  cook,  and  to  bake,  and  the  only 
time  at  which  she  could  be  free  to  teach  her  little 
girl  was  when  the  faint  fight  of  the  morning  stole 
through  the  tree  stems  to  the  door  of  the  forest- 
dwelling.  Then  Ramabai  was  wakened  and  lifted 
from  her  bed,  and  she  learned  all  her  earliest  lessons 
in  the  dim  morning  fight  from  her  mother’s  lips. 


68 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


Sanskrit  is  not  now  spoken  by  any  of  those  who  live 
in  India,  but  all  who  know  Indian  scholarship  know 
it.  It  was  in  this  language  that  Ramabai  learned  the 
beautiful  Hindu  poems,  and  the  stories  of  the  gods. 
There  is  much  in  these  poems  and  in  the  stories  that 
is  ugly  and  bad,  but  we  can  feel  sure  that  it  was  the 
most  lovely  parts  that  were  taught  to  the  child  in  the 
wood. 

When  Ramabai  grew  older  she  joined  the  others 
in  their  studies,  and  then  her  father  found  to  his  great 
delight  that  this  youngest  of  his  children  had  a mind 
that  could  answer  to  his  own  in  no  ordinary  way. 

By  and  by  the  time  came  when  the  eldest  daughter 
must  be  married.  Ananta  was  a Brahman,  and  he 
would  have  been  disgraced  amongst  all  his  people  if 
he  had  not  married  his  daughter  while  she  was  still 
a child,  so  she  had  been  betrothed  to  a Brahman  boy 
when  she  was  very  young.  When  this  took  place, 
Ananta  arranged  that  the  little  boy  was  to  be  educated 
as  she  had  been,  so  that  the  two  might  have  many 
thoughts  and  interests  in  common.  The  wedding 
day  came,  and  Ananta  sought  to  have  everything  as 
beautiful  and  costly  as  custom  demanded  for  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter,  but  his  heart  was  bitter 
within  him,  because  he  found  that  the  promises  that 
had  been  made  to  him  about  his  son-in-law  had  all 
been  broken,  and  he  knew  that  he  had  given  his 
daughter  to  one  who  could  not  understand  her.  And 
this  was  not  his  only  reason  for  sorrow.  Custom 
had  made  him  give  her  a large  dowry,  and  spend  great 
sums  of  money  on  the  marriage  feasting.  Brahmans 


ANANTA  THE  SEEKER 


69 


and  beggars  had  been  fed  too,  and  he  found  that  he 
had  left  himself  and  his  children  poor.  This  made 
him  feel  more  strongly  than  ever  that  there  was  much 
that  was  wrong  in  Hindu  customs.  He  lectured  on 
the  wrongs  of  India’s  women,  and  tried  to  prove  that 
many  of  the  things  they  suffered  were  not  com- 
manded in  the  old  writings.  But  another  trouble 
was  before  them.  Ananta  could  not  face  the  thought 
of  giving  Ramabai  to  the  same  fate  that  had  awaited 
her  sister.  So  he  resolved  that  he  would  not  marry 
her  to  anyone  until  she  was  grown  up.  His  friends 
and  relations  had  been  very  angry  with  him  for 
teaching  his  wife,  but  they  had  not  made  him  an  out- 
cast for  that,  but  when  they  saw  that  he  was  not 
going  to  arrange  for  Ramabai’s  marriage,  they  were 
enraged,  and  would  not  own  him  as  one  of  them. 
Then  came  the  years  of  a great  famine.  None  of 
Ananta’s  people  would  give  him  work,  and  no  one  had 
money  to  pay  for  listening  to  lectures,  so  the  little 
family  moved  about  from  place  to  place.  They 
always  hoped  that  the  gifts  they  had  given  to  the  gods 
would  bring  them  favour  sooner  or  later.  But  one 
misfortune  followed  another  until  at  last  they  re- 
solved to  die.  Ananta  had  ceased  to  worship  idols, 
but  he  had  never  heard  of  Christ.  Yet,  though  he 
had  not  heard  of  Him  he  was  feeling  his  way  as  many 
a Hindu  has  done,  towards  that  same  God  whom 
Christ  has  revealed.  Yet  though  this  is  so,  it  did 
not  seem  to  him  that  it  would  be  wrong  for  him  to 
kill  himself,  for  he  believed  as  his  fathers  had  done 
in  the  worthlessness  and  wretchedness  of  human  life, 


70 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


and  that  belief  made  him  think  it  right  to  leave  it. 
The  family  talked  in  sorrow  and  bitterness,  and  planned 
how  they  each  in  turn  would  end  the  life  that  had 
become  so  sad.  But  the  training  that  Ananta  had 
given  to  his  children,  and  the  close  bonds  of  love  that 
had  been  drawn  amongst  the  forests,  were  stirring 
instincts  that  he  did  not  dream  of.  It  was  a 
terrible  thing  to  Hindu  minds  for  a Brahman  to 
do  labourer’s  work,  but  Ananta’s  son  felt  that  it 
was  a far  more  terrible  thing  to  see  the  father 
whom  he  honoured  take  away  his  own  life,  and  the 
lad  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  find  work  of 
some  kind  no  matter  how  humble  it  was,  and  so  bring 
food  and  life  to  his  father  and  mother. 

L But  though  they  were  saved  the  pain  of  knowing 
that  their  father  had  taken  his  own  life,  they  could 
not  keep  him  with  them  much  longer.  The  suffering 
and  want  of  these  days  of  weary  travel  had  told  on 
him,  and  with  anxious  thoughts  about  the  future  of 
his  children,  he  died.  Amongst  his  last  words  was 
a special  message  to  Ramabai  that  she  should 
always  obey  and  serve  God,  for  though  the  family 
still  worshipped  idols  yet  Ananta  had  come  to  believe 
that  there  was  only  one  God  in  the  universe, 
and  that  He  would  take  care  of  those  who  obeyed 
Him. 

Caste  and  custom  with  their  grim  shadows  watched 
over  Ananta’s  funeral.  He  had  put  himself  outside 
the  bonds  of  caste,  and  no  one  would  help  to  bury 
him.  At  length  the  sad  rites  were  over,  but  Lakshmibai 
was  so  ill  that  her  children  feared  that  they  would 


ANANTA  THE  SEEKER 


71 


lose  her  too.  They  could  not  find  steady  work  even 
of  the  humblest  kind,  and  the  one  thing  open  to  them 
still,  they  could  not  do.  They  could  not  beg.  The 
spirit  of  Lakshmibai  was  broken.  She  could  fight  no 
longer.  There  was  no  refuge  to  which  she  could  be 
taken.  If  she  had  killed  both  of  her  baby  daughters, 
doors  might  still  have  been  open  to  her  amongst  her 
caste  people  and  relations,  for  the  mother  of  a son, 
even  when  she  is  a widow,  is  not  wholly  despised  ; 
but  because,  instead  of  killing  Ramabai,  she  and 
Ananta  had  taught  her  and  had  refused  to  have  her 
married  when  she  was  still  a child,  every  door  was 
shut  against  her.  There  was  no  hospital  nor  home 
to  which  she  could  go.  For  many  a sick  man  and 
woman  in  India  the  only  hospital  has  been  the 
waters  of  the  Ganges  or  a living  grave.  It  was 
terrible  for  Ramabai  to  see  the  suffering  of  her  mother, 
and  one  day  she  started  out  to  beg — only  she  could 
not  do  it  when  she  came  to  the  point.  But  the 
woman  to  whose  house  she  went  saw  the  little  pinched 
face  and  the  hungry  eyes,  and  gave  her  a bit  of  bread 
with  which  she  rushed  home  to  her  mother,  who  was  by 
that  time  too  weak  to  eat  it,  and  very  soon  Ramabai 
and  her  brother  were  left  alone  in  the  world. 


72 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PANDITA  RAMABAI 

Ramabai  and  her  brother  were  alone,  but  they  had 
one  treasure  that  very  few  Hindu  brothers  and  sisters 
then  had.  They  had  their  friendship  for  each  other, 
their  common  interests  and  hopes  and  fears. 

They  were  still  very  reverent  to  shrines  and  idols, 
though  strange  thoughts  and  questions  were  rising 
in  their  minds,  and  the  thought  of  the  one  great  God 
of  whom  their  father  had  spoken  to  them  grew  ever 
stronger.  One  day  they  found  that  they  were  near 
a sacred  lake,  in  which  there  were  seven  floating 
mountains  ; — at  least  they  were  called  mountains, 
but  they  were  really  only  small  hills.  On  the  shore 
of  the  lake  there  were  priests,  for  worship  was  paid 
to  the  spirits  of  the  mountains.  Ramabai  and  her 
brother  had  often  heard  of  this  spirit  - haunted 
lake,  for  it  was  a place  of  pilgrimage,  and  the 
wonderful  thing  about  it  was  that  if  the  pilgrim 
who  prayed  at  the  water’s  edge  was  good  the  moun- 
tains slowly  moved  towards  the  shore,  but  if  he  was 
bad  the  cliffs  remained  stolidly  still,  and  no  prayers 
could  move  them  one  inch.  When  Ramabai  and  her 
brother  reached  the  lake  they  found  that  what  had 
been  called  mountains  were  only  wooded  island 
mounds,  but  there  they  were,  all  seven  of  them,  rising 
from  the  still  waters. 

The  priests  warned  everyone  who  came  that  they 
must  on  no  account  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the  lake 


A SCHOOL  FOR  GIRLS 


THE  PANDITA  RAMABAI 


73 


because  of  the  crocodiles.  They  seemed  to  be  so 
much  afraid  that  any  of  the  pilgrims  might  be  eaten 
up,  that  they  kept  a very  strict  watch  all  round  the 
lake. 

Ramabai  and  her  brother  knelt  by  the  shore. 
They  had  been  true  worshippers  of  the  gods,  and  they 
felt  that  if  they  were  to  be  judged  by  the  best  of  the 
old  books  of  India  they  were  good.  It  is  true  that 
their  caste-fellows  had  disowned  them,  but,  though 
many  of  their  old  beliefs  about  idols  and  shrines  still 
lingered  with  them,  they  did  not  believe  that  a good 
god  could  be  angry  at  their  father’s  treatment  of  his 
daughters.  So  they  worshipped  eagerly,  and  looked 
to  see  if  the  mountains  were  moving  to  the  shore. 
But  the  water  lapped  against  the  banks  as  calmly 
as  before,  and  not  an  extra  ripple  could  be  seen.  They 
slept  that  night  near  the  lake,  and  very  early  in  the 
morning,  before  the  priests  were  on  the  watch,  the 
boy  made  up  his  mind  that  if  the  mountains  would 
not  come  to  him  he  would  go  to  the  mountains  ! 
Ramabai  watched  him  breathlessly,  for  had  he  not 
the  anger  of  the  spirits  to  dread,  as  well  as  the 
hungry  crocodiles  ? He  swam  out  to  the  nearest 
mountain,  swam  right  round  it,  and  back  to  the  shore. 
No  crocodile  had  touched  him,  and  the  look  in  his  eyes 
as  he  returned  to  Ramabai  was  a look  of  anger,  not 
of  fear.  He  had  seen,  when  he  reached  it,  that  the 
mountain  was  only  a sham.  It  was  cleverly  built 
of  mud  and  earth,  on  a floating  raft.  Trees  and  creepers 
were  stuck  into  the  clay  as  if  they  grew  there.  Behind, 
out  of  sight  of  land,  there  was  a little  boat.  It  was 


74 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


all  clear  to  him  now.  Some  signal  must  pass  from  the 
priests  on  shore  to  the  priest  in  the  boat,  and  if  the 
pilgrim  gave  enough  of  money  to  the  priest  on  shore, 
the  boatman  pushed  the  floating  mountain  towards 
the  land  ; so  it  was  not  virtue  but  money  that  moved 
the  spirit  of  the  mountain.  This  discovery  opened 
their  eyes  to  many  other  things.  If  the  worship  of 
the  gods  was  only  kept  up  in  order  to  give  money  to 
the  priests  ; and  if,  in  order  to  keep  up  this  great 
system,  the  priests  had  to  call  to  their  aid  the  gloomy 
spirits  of  caste  and  custom,  then  there  might  be  escape 
for  India  from  these  terrible  things.  And  with  eyes 
open  to  all  she  saw,  Ramabai  began  to  notice  more 
than  ever  before  what  a terrible  life  high  caste  Hindu 
widows  had  to  live  when  they  were  not  the  mothers  of 
sons.  Gradually  she  and  her  brother  gathered  groups 
of  people  to  listen  to  them  as  their  father  had  done. 
Soon  the  days  of  poverty  were  over,  for  Ramabai 
had  found  out  where  one  of  her  great  powers  lay. 
Crowds  gathered  to  hear  her  speak,  and  to  wonder  at 
her  knowledge.  But  this  relief  came  too  late  for  her 
brother,  who  had  been  so  much  worn  out  with  want 
that  his  strength  gave  way,  and  though  he  saw  his 
sister  safe  from  the  fear  of  poverty  it  was  very  hard 
for  him  to  leave  her  alone.  But  though  Ramabai’s 
faith  in  idols  had  gone,  her  faith  in  God  grew  stronger 
through  the  years,  and  she  cheered  the  dying  boy  with 
the  words,  “ God  will  take  care  of  me.” 

Ere  her  brother’s  death  the  fame  of  Ramabai  had 
come  to  the  ears  of  the  learned  men  of  Calcutta,  and 
they  asked  her  to  come  and  meet  with  them.  They 


THE  PANDITA  RAMABAI 


75 


questioned  her,  and  listened  to  her  answers,  and  they 
sat  in  amazement  as  they  heard  her  quote  the  ancient 
writings.  They  were  so  moved  by  her  learning  that 
they  gave  her  the  right  to  use  the  title  Pandita,1 
which  no  woman  had  ever  been  allowed  to  use, 
and  they  called  her  also  Sarasvati,  “ goddess  of 
wisdom.” 

About  this  time  a Hindu  gentleman,  whose  ideas  were 
like  those  of  Ananta,  and  who  shared  Ramabai’s  horror 
when  he  thought  of  the  life  of  many  Hindu  women, 
asked  Ramabai  to  be  his  wife,  and  very  soon  after 
her  brother’s  death  she  was  married  to  him.  They 
were  very  happy  together,  but  they  were  not  content 
to  be  happy  alone.  They  dreamed  and  planned 
what  they  could  do  for  Hindu  widows,  and  they  even 
thought  of  opening  their  own  happy  home  to  them. 
Soon  a little  daughter  was  born  to  them  to  add  to  their 
gladness,  and  the  plans  for  the  widows  were  going 
forward  brightly,  when  death  crossed  the  threshold, 
and  Ramabai  was  left  a widow — a widow  with  no  son. 
But  the  shadows  of  caste  and  custom  had  already 
wreaked  much  of  their  vengeance  on  her,  and  now 
when  she  might  have  suffered  most  severely,  she  was 
nearly  out  of  their  power. 

Her  whole  thoughts  were  for  Manorama,  her  little 
daughter,  and  for  Hindu  widows,  and  her  one  desire 
was  to  be  fit  to  do  the  best  for  them  she  could. 
English  women  lived  in  happiness  with  their  brothers 
and  friends.  English  people  had  opened  schools  and 
colleges  in  India,  and  she  resolved  to  cross  the  sea  that 
1 Feminine  of  Pandit,  teacher. 


76 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


she  might  learn  from  them  in  their  own  land,  things 
that  would  help  her  to  brighten  the  lives  of  Indian 
women.  So  the  young  Hindu  widow  with  her  little 
baby  came  to  England.  At  Wantage  the  wonder  of 
Christ  broke  on  her,  and  she  saw  that  the  God  in  whom 
she  had  blindly  trusted  was  He  who  had  been  shown  to 
men  in  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  Ramabai 
saw  how  great  a difference  this  made  to  her,  her 
thoughts  went  out  to  the  memory  of  her  father,  and 
she  answered  his  last  words  as  she  could  not  when  he 
died,  “Yes,  I will  serve  Him  always.’’ 

To-day  Ramabai  is  surrounded  by  children.  She 
has  two  homes,  and  they  are  quite  different.  When 
she  gave  up  her  life  to  Christ  the  first  great  piece  of 
work  she  did  in  service  to  Him  made  many  people 
think  that  she  was  not  faithful  to  Him,  because  in 
her  first  home,  a home  for  Hindu  widow's,  the 
great  shadows  of  caste  and  custom  are  admitted. 
Perhaps  at  first  it  seems  wonderful  that  this  should 
be.  But  as  Ramabai  looked  round  the  land  she  saw 
that  many  other  servants  of  Jesus  Christ  had  opened 
homes  for  high  caste  Hindu  widows,  and  that  no  inch 
of  the  door  of  these  homes  wras  open  for  caste  and 
custom.  She  saw  too  that  only  very  few  Hindus 
were  willing  to  let  their  daughters  learn  from  those 
w'ho  would  not  allow  them  to  follow  caste  rules.  So 
she  made  up  her  mind  that  she  w'ould  open  one  home 
to  which  little  Hindu  child  widows  might  come,  al- 
though they  still  sat  in  the  shadow.  At  first  very 
few  wTere  allowed  to  come,  but  soon  the  number  grew 
greater.  The  little  ones  were  taught  many  things 


THE  PANDITA  RAMABAI 


77 


and  they  were  kindly  cared  for,  and  none  of  their 
many  customs  were  interfered  with.  They  were 
allowed  to  go  to  the  bazaar  to  buy  offerings  to  carry 
to  the  gods,  and  to  have  the  barber  shave  them  in  his 
rounds.  They  might  fast  when  they  wished,  and 
they  need  never  hear  of  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Ramabai  did  all  that  she  could  to  rob  the  shadows 
that  lay  on  them  of  their  darkness,  only  she  did  not 
say  that  they  must  leave  the  shadows  before  they 
came  to  her.  But  ever  as  the  children  lived  in  the 
Sharada  Sadan,  they  saw  that  there  was  one  woman 
— a Hindu  widow — on  whom  the  shadow  did  not  rest, 
one  room  in  which  there  was  no  gloom.  The  woman 
was  Ramabai,  and  the  room  was  hers.  Night  and 
morning  she  held  service  there  with  her  servants  and 
Manorama,  and  the  door  of  the  room  was  always  open. 
It  is  not  easy  for  shadows  to  linger  round  a glowing 
light.  Ramabai  knew  that,  and  she  waited  and  hoped. 
She  did  not  wait  in  vain,  for  soon  her  pupils  began  to 
wonder  what  it  was  that  made  her  so  different  from 
others,  and  they  came  to  ask  her  about  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  religion. 

Some  of  the  little  girls  who  came  to  her  had  been 
terribly  ill-used,  and  often  it  was  a long  time  before 
she  could  bring  a smile  to  the  dim  eyes  that  had  lost 
their  childlike  look,  or  even  before  she  could  bring 
health  back  to  the  beaten,  burned  bodies  that  some- 
times came  into  her  loving  care. 

It  was  difficult  for  Ramabai  to  get  hold  of  those 
who  needed  her  help  most.  One  time  she  heard  of  a 
little  widow  who  was  in  great  misery,  but  the  child 


78 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


was  so  stupefied  with  pain  that  she  did  not  wish  for 
relief  from  it,  or  think  that  anyone  could  help  her. 
Ramabai  asked  the  girl  and  the  relations  of  her  dead 
husband  to  come  and  visit  her,  in  order  that  she  might 
win  the  love  of  the  young  widow,  and  persuade  her 
to  stay  when  the  others  went.  The  relations  were 
glad  to  visit  Ramabai,  and  they  stayed  for  some  time 
in  a little  house  within  the  grounds  of  the  Sharada 
Sadan.  Ramabai  hoped  that  the  care  the  child 
received  while  she  stayed  there  would  have  an  effect 
on  her,  and  that  before  her  relations  left  the  place 
the  widow  would  be  eager  to  stay.  But  the  days  went 
on,  and  the  child  was  still  lifeless  and  dull,  for  though 
the  Pandita  did  not  know  it,  her  relations  managed 
to  beat  and  ill-use  her  every  day.  At  last  Ramabai 
felt  that  she  could  wait  no  longer,  so  she  told  her 
guests  in  what  was  understood  as  the  correct  way, 
that  their  visit  had  come  to  an  end.  Then  she  asked 
the  widow  if  she  would  stay  behind.  The  relations 
did  not  wash  her  to  stay,  but  they  could  not  prevent 
her  if  she  said  she  would,  and  she  did  say  so,  though 
she  was  still  so  dazed  that  Ramabai  feared  she  would 
lose  her  after  all.  On  that  life  the  early  years  of  pain 
have  left  traces  that  will  never  entirely  go  away. 

When  Ramabai  had  carried  on  her  work  in  this 
school  for  eight  years,  a famine  broke  out  in  Central 
India.  She  read  of  this  famine,  and  the  thought  of 
all  the  orphans  who  were  left  friendless  by  it  moved 
her,  so  that  she  hurried  off  to  the  famine  district,  and 
brought  back  with  her  three  hundred  girls.  The 
pupils  of  the  Sharada  Sadan  welcomed  the  little 


HORMASDJI  PESTONJI  79 

waifs,  and  made  room  for  them  within  the  grounds 
for  that  night. 

Some  time  before  this  the  Pundita  had  bought  a 
farm  in  order  to  provide  for  her  widows’  school.  The 
famine  children  were  taken  to  this  farm  and  nursed 
back  to  health  there.  Though  in  the  Sharada  Sadan 
Ramabai  led  the  girls  to  Christ  by  indirect  means 
only,  she  did  not  feel  that  she  was  bound  to  do  so  in 
the  farm  home.  The  famine  orphans  were  a gift  to 
her  from  God,  not  a loan  from  parents  or  relations, 
so  she  has  from  the  first  been  free  to  tell  them  of  the 
love  of  Christ  the  King,  for  all  children,  and  for  all  in 
sorrow.  The  new  home  is  called  “ Mukti,”  that  is 
“ Salvation,”  and  high  up  over  the  great  entrance 
the  words  “ Praise  the  Lord  ” in  Marathi,  tell  of 
Ramabai’s  wish  to  call  the  walls  of  her  children’s 
home  “ Salvation  ” and  its  gates  “ Praise.” 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HORMASDJI  PESTONJI 

Before  we  leave  India  we  shall  hear  the  stories  of 
four  others  of  its  children  who  found  their  way  to 
Christ  the  King.  The  name  of  the  first  of  these  is 
Hormasdji  Pestonji.  He  was  not  a Hindu,  nor  a 
Mohammedan,  but  a Parsee.  There  are  not  very 
many  Parsees  in  the  world,  and  most  of  them  live  in 
India.  They  are  a powerful  people,  though  they  are 
few  in  number.  Their  religion  is  a worship  of  fire, 
and  their  ideals  of  character  are  high  and  noble. 


80 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


Hormasdji  went  to  a mission  college  in  Bombay. 
Though  no  one  had  to  be  a Christian  in  order  to  study 
there,  yet  each  one  had  to  listen  to  lessons  on  the 
Christian  faith,  and  to  take  his  turn  in  reading  the 
Bible.  Many  of  the  boys  hated  the  foreigner’s 
religion.  They  went  to  the  classes  because  they 
wished  to  learn  English,  but  they  would  gladly  have 
closed  their  ears  when  the  Bible  lesson  came. 
Hormasdji  was  one  of  the  fiercest  of  these.  When 
he  saw  the  name  of  Jesus  he  refused  to  say  it,  and  he 
tried  to  destroy  the  books  in  which  it  was.  But  he 
could  not  help  hearing. 

Parsee  women  are  not  treated  as  most  Mohammedan 
and  Hindu  women  are.  They  are  honoured  and  loved, 
and  may  go  in  and  out  with  freedom  ; and  home  life 
amongst  the  Parsees  is  often  bright  and  happy. 
Hormasdji  was  extremely  fond  of  his  mother,  and 
she  died  when  he  was  still  very  young.  He  was  in 
passionate  grief  as  he  saw  her  body  carried  out, 
covered  with  rich  shawls,  to  the  great  white  towers 
of  silence  by  the  sea,  where  the  Parsee  dead  are  laid. 
“ O god  Fire  give  me  back  my  mother,  give  me  back 
my  mother,”  he  prayed  ; but  his  brother  came  sadly 
back  without  the  body  he  had  borne  away,  and  the 
boys  were  motherless. 

Hormasdji  thought  of  his  prayer,  and  began  to 
wonder  if  ‘ fire  ’ really  was  God  at  all.  His  lessons 
at  school  made  him  wonder  still  more,  for  there  were 
strange  experiments  with  fire  and  with  water,  and  it 
did  not  seem  to  him  that  what  he  had  seen  with  his 
eyes  could  be  true  if  fire  was  really  God.  He  became 


HORMASDJI  PESTONJI 


81 


very  unhappy.  He  did  not  wish  to  believe  that 
Christ  could  be  anything  to  him  and  he  had  lost  all 
faith  in  his  own  god  Fire. 

One  day  he  went  for  a swim  in  the  sea.  Before  he 
plunged  in  he  saw  a sandbank  on  which  he  often 
rested,  clearly  marked,  but  while  he  was  swimming 
the  rising  tide  covered  the  bank  and  there  was  no 
resting-place  for  him  anywhere.  He  turned  back  to 
swim  to  the  shore,  but  it  was  too  far  away  and  he 
felt  his  strength  failing.  As  his  strokes  grew  feebler 
he  thought  of  Christ  and  everything  seemed  different 
to  him  from  what  he  had  imagined.  He  knew  that 
in  his  heart  he  did  believe  in  Christ  though  he  had 
tried  to  think  that  he  hated  Him.  Those  on  shore 
saw  that  Hormasdji  was  in  danger  and  set  out  to 
rescue  him,  but  he  did  not  forget  the  thoughts  that 
had  passed  through  his  mind  when  he  seemed  to  be 
sinking.  It  was  in  a different  spirit  that  he  listened 
to  the  missionaries  afterwards.  He  was  not  content 
to  hear  only  what  was  taught  in  school.  He  wished 
to  know  all  he  could  about  the  King  of  India,  so  he 
went  to  the  house  of  a Christian  who  lived  in  Bombay. 
He  met  another  Parsee  there,  who  also  studied  in  the 
college.  It  was  a joy  to  them  both,  for  neither  had 
known  that  the  other  wished  to  follow  Christ.  From 
that  day  onwards  they  stood  together,  shoulder  to 
shoulder.  When  Hormasdji  was  nineteen  years  old, 
he  was  baptised,  four  days  after  his  friend.  All 
Bombay  was  excited.  No  one  had  ever  left  the  Parsee 
faith  before,  and  the  Parsees  stirred  up  the  Hindus 
and  both  together  tried  to  kill  the  young  converts. 

F 


82 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


When  a trial  at  law  was  brought  on,  some  of  the 
Parsees  clung  to  the  wheels  of  the  carriage  in  which 
Hormasdji  drove  away  from  the  court  and  said  that 
they  would  willingly  die  themselves  in  order  to  kill 
the  man  who  had  left  their  faith.  They  tried  to  poison 
him  and  to  set  fire  to  his  house  but  all  in  vain. 
Hormasdji  remained  firm  and  spent  his  long  life,  for 
he  was  seventy-one  when  he  died,  in  seeking  to  bring 
the  faith  of  Christ  into  other  hearts. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SITA  THE  WIDOW 

Sita  was  only  a child  but  she  was  very  miserable. 
The  other  little  girls  she  knew  romped  and  played 
about,  but  she  had  to  work  hard  and  to  bear  blows 
and  many  other  kinds  of  cruelty.  She  did  not  know 
why  this  was,  but  she  could  remember  a time  long 
before — at  least  it  seemed  long  before — when  people 
were  kind  to  her,  and  she  could  play  and  romp  about 
too.  Even  in  her  dim  memory  of  these  days  one 
person  had  been  unkind  to  her.  An  old  man  who 
had  shaken  her  and  told  her  to  be  quick  and  grow  up 
that  she  might  work  for  him.  But  one  day  he  died, 
and  Sita  was  very  glad.  Only  she  was  not  allowed 
to  be  glad  long,  for  the  others  in  the  house  came 
round  her  and  told  her  that  she  had  killed  him,  and 
from  that  time  they  ill-treated  her  terribly.  She  had 
to  draw  and  carry  all  the  water  that  was  needed  for 
washing  and  cooking  ; and  a great  deal  was  required, 


SITA  THE  WIDOW 


83 


for  there  were  nine  people  in  the  house.  Sometimes 
she  was  terribly  tired,  and  it  seemed  as  if  she  could 
not  draw  up  one  bucketful  more  of  water.  One  day, 
when  she  was  ten  years  old,  she  was  more  tired  than 
ever,  and  she  sat  down  for  a little  by  the  well,  while 
happy  careless  women  drew  up  their  bucketfuls  and 
put  them  gaily  on  their  heads.  They  looked  bright 
in  their  cotton  robes,  and  their  hearts  were  bright  too 
for  they  sang  little  songs  as  they  clustered  round  the 
well.  Sita  thought  there  was  a kind  look  in  the  face 
of  one  woman  who  came,  and  she  said  to  her,  “ Will 
you  not  draw  a little  water  for  me,  the  well  is  so  deep, 
and  I am  tired  and  ill  ? ” 

The  woman  started  back  from  the  little  brown 
figure  with  the  tattered  clothes  and  the  shaven  head. 
“ Widow  ! ” she  said.  Then  she  cursed  Sita  and 
told  her  that  she  had  done  her  harm  by  letting  her 
shadow  fall  on  her,  and  that  she  would  have  to  take 
a bath  before  she  could  eat ; and  then  she  cursed  her 
again. 

The  child  looked  up  in  surprise.  She  did  not  know 
what  all  this  meant.  The  tears  were  in  her  eyes,  and 
the  woman,  with  a touch  of  pity,  stopped  a moment, 
when  she  was  safely  out  of  reach  of  Sita’s  shadow, 
and  asked  : — 

“ Why  should  I help  you  when  the  gods  have  cursed 
you  ? See,  you  are  a widow.”  But  Sita  only  gazed 
at  her. 

“ Don’t  you  understand  ? Did  you  not  have  a 
husband  once  ? ” “ Yes,  I think  so,  the  old  bad  man 

who  used  to  shake  me.”  “ You  call  him  bad  ? ” 


84 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


“No  wonder  the  gods  hate  you.  You  must  have 
been  very  bad  once.  So  now  you  are  a widow,  and 
by  and  bye  you  will  be  a toad  or  a snake.”  Then  the 
woman  lifted  her  water-pots  and  hurried  away. 

Sita  hastened  too  for  she  knew  she  had  stayed  too 
long,  and  when  she  reached  the  house  she  was  so  tired 
that  she  nearly  fell,  but  instead  of  a cool  drink  or 
kind  words  her  sister-in-law  burned  her  arms  and  hands 
with  a hot  poker  because  she  did  not  go  to  work 
quickly  enough  and  the  little  one  had  to  labour  on 
through  all  her  pain. 

So  the  days  passed  one  by  one.  Some  were  worse 
and  some  were  better.  But  Sita  was  always  hungry 
for  since  her  head  was  shaved  she  was  only  allowed 
to  eat  once  a day  and  that  only  of  the  least  pleasant 
kind  of  food.  She  was  lonely  too,  for  most  of  the 
children  fled  from  her.  But  there  was  one  girl  called 
Tungi,  who  used  to  manage  to  speak  to  her  sometimes. 
Tungi  was  a little  wife,  but  she  had  not  yet  gone  to 
stay  with  her  husband.  He  was  in  school,  and  he  had 
sent  word  that  his  wife  must  go  to  school  too,  till  they 
were  both  older,  because  he  wished  her  to  be  able  to 
sing  and  to  read  books  and  be  happy  with  him  when 
he  spoke  of  the  things  he  cared  about. 

Tungi’s  mother  did  not  like  this  at  all.  She  thought 
as  very  many  people  in  India  think  that  it  is  a bad 
thing  for  women  to  read  and  write  ; but  Tungi  was 
married,  and,  just  as  her  mother  would  not  have 
thought  it  right  to  save  her  from  her  husband  if  he 
had  been  ill-using  her,  so  she  did  not  think  it  right 
to  refuse  to  let  her  go  to  school. 


SITA  THE  WIDOW 


85 


Tungi  was  a bright  girl  and  she  quickly  took  in 
many  of  the  lessons  that  were  taught  at  school.  One 
of  these  was  that  it  would  do  her  no  harm  to  talk  to 
a widow,  so  though  she  dared  not  let  her  mother  see 
her  talk  to  Sita,  she  used  to  sit  by  her  whenever  she 
could  get  a chance  to  do  it  without  being  seen. 

It  was  not  a great  thing  for  Tungi  to  do,  for  she  loved 
to  see  the  light  steal  into  the  frightened  eyes ; but  if  it 
was  only  another  joy  in  Tungi’s  full  life  it  was  like 
the  gate  of  heaven  to  Sita.  Even  to  catch  a passing 
sight  of  Tungi  made  a day  a red  letter  day  for  the 
little  widow. 

Sita  told  Tungi  all  about  what  the  woman  at  the 
well  had  said  to  her,  and  Tungi  told  her  that  many 
of  those  who  were  at  school  did  not  believe  such  things 
about  widows.  She  told  her  too,  that  there  was  a 
better  God  than  the  ones  who  would  treat  a child  as 
she  was  treated,  and  so  she  tried  to  comfort  her  little 
friend. 

Soon  Tungi  had  to  go  back  to  school  and  nine  months 
passed  before  the  children  met  again. 

There  had  been  a great  contrast  between  them  at 
the  beginning  of  the  nine  months,  but  it  was  far 
greater  at  the  end. 

Tungi’s  eye  was  brighter.  She  had  learned  a great 
deal  more,  and  life  was  interesting  and  glad  to  her. 
But  poor  Sita  was  sadder  and  more  worn.  Her 
husband’s  family  had  used  her  worse  and  worse. 
They  had  almost  forgotten  that  she  could  feel,  and 
they  treated  her  as  if  she  had  really  killed  her 
husband. 


86 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


A beautiful  young  widow  who  lived  near  Sita  had 
drowned  herself  in  a well  when  she  found  how  miser- 
able her  life  was  after  her  husband’s  death.  Sita 
looked  into  the  cool  water  and  wondered  how  long 
it  would  take  her  to  die  if  she  leapt  in.  Then  she 
thought  of  what  the  woman  had  said  a year  before, 
and  she  could  see  herself  jumping  about  as  a little  frog, 
and  she  feared  that  something  worse  even  than  that 
might  happen  to  her,  and  that  she  might  go  to  one  of 
the  places  of  punishment  beyond  the  world  altogether. 
So  she  shrank  back,  and  tried  to  face  the  dreary 
round  again — the  hunger,  the  labour  and  the  cruel 
pain. 

Even  the  joy  of  seeing  Tungi  once  more  could 
scarcely  raise  her  spirits,  and  the  tenderness  of  her 
little  friend  only  brought  tears  to  her  eyes.  But  this 
time  Tungi  had  more  than  kindness  to  offer.  She 
told  Sita  of  Ramabai’s  home.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  Sita  that  she  could  enter  there — she,  whom  no  one 
wanted,  and  who  had  never  been  free  to  do  what  she 
wished.  But  Tungi  told  her  that  nothing  could 
prevent  her  from  getting  into  the  Sharada  Sadan,  if 
she  could  reach  it.  And  Sita  did  reach  it,  and  what 
is  more  she  reached  it  before  all  the  fun  and  non- 
sense in  her  had  been  killed,  and  the  happy  years  that 
followed  healed  the  tiredness  and  the  sickness  of  her 
arms  and  body,  though  they  could  not  make  her 
forget  the  darkness  of  her  early  days  of  widowhood. 

Before  Sita  had  heard  of  Ramabai’s  home,  Tungi 
had  said  to  her,  “ There’s  a better  God  than  that.” 
And  in  the  Sharada  Sadan  Sita  learned  to  know  that 


RESCUED  CHILD  WIDOWS 


DILAWUR  KHAN  AND  THE  KING  87 


God.  And  when  she  grew  up  a Hindu  gentleman, 
who  had  also  learned  to  know  God,  asked  her  to  marry 
him,  and  Sita  who  had  been  left  a widow  at  the  age 
of  four  by  the  death  of  the  " old  bad  man  ” became 
a happy  Christian  wife. 


CHAPTER  XV 

DILAWUR  KHAN  AND  THE  KING 

Far  away  in  the  north  of  India  a little  boy  was  born. 
He  was  trained  to  two  things — to  be  a robber  and  to 
obey  the  Prophet  Mohammed  ; and  he  learned  what  he 
was  taught  thoroughly,  for  he  could  steal  cleverly  and 
he  was  careful  to  pray  five  times  a day  and  to  fast 
through  Ramadan.  From  the  high  hill  side  he  watched 
the  roads  by  which  men  crossed  the  country.  When 
poor  people  passed  along  he  always  stayed  quietly 
where  he  was,  and  let  his  sword  lie  by  his  side,  though 
he  kept  his  gun  in  his  hand  to  be  ready.  But,  if  instead 
of  a poor  man  he  saw  a rich  trader  pass,  he  swept  down 
into  the  valley,  and  made  the  merchant  a prisoner. 
He  had  hidden  haunts  in  the  hills,  and  he  took  his 
prisoner  with  him  to  one  of  them.  There  he  kept 
him  safely  till  money  was  sent  to  buy  his  freedom. 
If  it  was  a long  time  before  any  money  was  sent,  or 
if  Dilawur  Khan  did  not  think  that  the  sum  that 
had  been  sent  was  large  enough  he  would  cut  off  one 
finger  from  his  captive’s  hand  and  send  it  to  his 
friends,  to  tell  them  that  if  they  did  not  send  soon 
it  would  be  too  late. 


88 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


A price  was  set  on  Dilawur’s  head,  and  one  time 
he  was  seen  by  some  horse  soldiers.  They  chased  him, 
but  though  he  ran  on  foot  and  they  were  on  horse- 
back they  could  not  catch  him,  for  he  dashed  into  a 
field  of  tall  com  and  lay  there  while  they  rode  up 
and  down. 

At  another  time  a government  officer  met  him  in  a 
village,  but  the  Englishman  could  not  capture  him 
there  because  the  village  was  beyond  the  bounds  of 
British  India.  But  though  the  officer  could  not  take 
him  prisoner,  he  tried  another  way.  He  looked  at 
the  strong  man  before  him  and  he  felt  that  in  spite  of 
the  wild  life  he  was  living  he  was  a true  man,  so  he 
said  to  him  that  he  would  give  him  service  in  the 
Guide  Corps  if  he  would  live  an  honest  life.  But 
Dilawur  refused  the  offer  with  scorn  and  said  he 
would  go  on  with  his  reckless  life  whatever  the  English 
said  or  did. 

He  was  a faithful  follower  of  the  Prophet.  Five 
times  a day  when  the  call  for  prayer  rang  out  he  bowed 
himself  before  Allah,  and  he  kept  fast  each  year 
through  the  month  of  Ramadan.  Some  Mohammedans 
have  thought  it  a good  thing  even  to  kill  those  who 
do  not  worship  Allah,  and  Dilawur  Khan  believed  that 
in  his  life  of  robbery  he  was  serving  God  by  injuring 
His  enemies. 

But  Dilawur  could  not  forget  what  the  officer  had 
said  to  him,  and  the  more  he  thought  of  it,  the  more 
it  seemed  to  him  that  it  would  be  better  to  give  him- 
self up  to  the  English  than  to  have  them  catch  him 
as  an  outlaw.  Besides  he  wished  very  much  to  get 


DILAWUR  KHAN  AND  THE  KING  89 


the  money  that  had  been  promised  to  anyone  who 
would  capture  him,  so  he  found  out  the  officer 
whom  he  had  met  before  and  asked  for  the  reward 
for  bringing  his  own  head  ! The  officer  still  believed 
that  if  once  Dilawur  gave  his  word  he  would  keep  it. 
So,  instead  of  executing  him,  he  allowed  him  to  serve 
in  the  army. 

One  day  some  time  after  this  Dilawur  was  in 
Peshawur,  and  as  he  passed  through  the  Bazaar  he 
saw  a noisy  crowd.  He  went  up  to  find  out  what  was 
going  on,  and  there,  to  his  surprise,  he  saw  a colonel 
of  the  army  speaking  to  those  around  him.  As  he 
listened  he  found  that  the  colonel  was  speaking  of 
the  King  of  India,  the  Son  of  God,  and  he  knew  that 
he  was  trying  to  win  men  to  believe  in  the  foreigner’s 
faith.  Dilawur  was  sure  that  he  could  answer  every- 
thing the  colonel  said,  and  could  show  the  crowd  that 
there  was  no  truth  in  the  religion  of  Christ.  So  he 
began  to  argue,  and  when  he  went  away  he  took  one 
of  the  colonel’s  books  home  with  him  in  order  that  he 
might  study  it  and  prove  to  everyone  who  would 
listen  how  false  it  was.  But  when  he  read  it,  he  could 
not  prove  that  it  was  false,  so  he  took  it  to  three  of  the 
religious  teachers  of  his  own  faith.  The  first  one 
was  very  angry  with  him  for  reading  such  a book ; 
the  second  told  him  to  put  it  away,  and  to  remember 
to  pray  at  the  set  times  for  worship ; and  the  third 
one  told  him  that  if  he  read  such  books  he  would  lose 
his  faith  in  the  Prophet.  This  surprised  him  very 
much,  because  he  had  read  the  Koran,  his  own  sacred 
book,  for  many  years,  and  he  believed  in  it  thoroughly, 


90 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


and  thought  that  any  book  that  would  make  him 
lose  his  faith  in  the  Prophet  of  whom  the  Koran  told, 
must  be  a wonderful  one  indeed. 

After  some  time  he  heard  that  the  man  who 
had  written  the  book  had  come  to  Peshawur. 
When  he  heard  it  he  said,  “ I would  walk  many 
miles  to  see  that  man.”  He  went  to  see  him  and 
talked  with  him  often,  and  from  that  time  he 
began  to  attack  the  faith  of  those  who  followed 
the  Prophet,  and  to  urge  them  to  prove  to  him  the 
truth  of  the  Koran.  And  as  he  thought  and  talked, 
the  story  of  the  love  of  Christ  entered  into  his  heart 
and  the  man  who  had  once  been  a reckless  robber, 
and  who  was  now  a brave  soldier,  took  service  also 
in  another  army  and  became  a follower  of  the 
King. 

But  he  had  been  a leader  amongst  the  Mohammedans 
and  they  could  not  bear  to  have  him  leave  them.  They 
tried  to  kill  him  in  many  ways,  and  at  last  Dilawur 
was  so  used  to  attack  that  he  challenged  anyone 
whom  he  met  after  dark,  with  the  words,  “ If  you  are 
a friend  stand  still  ! ” 

He  served  the  army  well,  and  he  served  Christ 
loyally  amongst  his  comrades.  He  rose  to  the  highest 
command  that  an  Indian  soldier  could  then  hold, 
and  he  was  trusted  on  special  service.  At  length  on 
one  occasion  a secret  message  had  to  be  carried 
north  through  the  mountains  into  Central  Asia. 
Dilawur  Khan  was  a true  man  and  he  knew  the 
passes,  so  he  was  chosen  to  go  on  the  dangerous 
errand,  but  ere  it  was  finished  he  died  amongst  the 


SOOBOO 


91 


snow  mountains.  Though  he  knew  that  he  was 
dying,  he  was  not  afraid,  but  he  sent  a message  to 
his  officers  to  say  that  he  was  glad  to  die  on  duty,  and 
a greeting  to  his  friends.  He  carried  the  spirit  of  a 
soldier’s  obedience  into  his  service  of  Christ.  “ Has 
He  commanded  ? ” he  would  ask,  and  if  the  answer 
was  “ yes,”  he  would  add,  “ Then  that  is  enough 
for  me.” 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SOOBOO 

It  is  not  only  to  poor  and  outcast  girls  that  the  sight 
of  the  King  of  India  brings  joy.  There  are  women 
in  that  land  whose  lives  were  happy  and  glad  before 
they  saw  Him,  who  yet  felt,  whenever  they  knew 
Him,  that  there  was  nothing  that  could  make  up  to 
them  for  missing  His  service. 

Sooboo  was  one  of  these.  She  was  a young  girl 
of  high  caste  in  Madras.  Her  father  was  wealthy 
and  honoured  and  she  still  stayed  with  him,  though 
she  was  married,  because,  though  she  had  all  the 
honour  that  is  given  to  a wife,  her  husband  would 
never  take  her  to  his  house.  She  had  been  born  on 
a Friday  and  she  was  one  of  twin  children,  and  because 
of  these  things  she  would  bring  ill-luck  to  her  husband’s 
house  if  she  entered  it.  She  was  very  happy  in  her 
father’s  house,  and  she  gave  her  time  to  the  worship 
of  the  gods.  All  day  long  she  thought  of  them,  and 
planned  what  she  could  do  to  show  her  reverence 
for  them,  and  to  win  merit  by  deeds  of  devotion. 


92 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


One  of  her  plans  was  to  build  a temple  and  to  have 
within  it  an  image  of  herself  bowing  before  her  god, 
and  the  image  and  the  god  were  both  to  be  made  of 
gold.  She  had  charge  of  the  household  gods  too, 
and  she  longed  to  learn  to  read  in  order  that  she  might 
find  out  for  herself  from  the  oldest  Indian  writings 
— the  Vedas — what  the  will  of  the  gods  really  was, 
because  different  priests  and  teachers  seemed  to  con- 
tradict each  other,  and  she  thought  that  if  she  could 
get  away  back  to  the  sacred  books  she  would  know 
better  how  to  worship. 

She  tried  to  find  some  Hindu  woman  who  would 
teach  her.  But  there  was  not  one.  There  were 
Zenana  missionaries,  but  her  friends  were  terribly 
frightened  to  let  them  near  her.  “ They  will  teach 
you  this  new  religion  about  Jesus,”  they  said.  But 
Sooboo  was  so  eager  to  learn  to  read  and  so  sure  of 
her  own  faith  in  the  Hindu  gods  that  she  said, 
“ What  they  teach  me  about  that  will  go  in  at 
one  ear  and  out  at  the  other.”  Sooboo  had  said 
“ that.”  She  meant  the  religion  of  the  foreigners. 
She  did  not  know  that  the  Christians  had  a real  living 
King  whom  they  knew  and  obeyed.  She  thought  they 
had  just  another  set  of  rules  about  life  and  stories  of 
gods  who  could  be  worshipped  but  who  sat  apart  and 
had  no  care  for  the  men  and  women  who  served  them. 

When  she  saw  the  King  of  India  she  knew  Him  to  be 
her  King,  and  the  thought  of  Him  entered  deep  into 
her  heart.  At  first  she  hoped  that  she  might  stay  at 
home  and  win  her  father  and  the  others  there  to 
serve  Christ  too.  His  service  was  so  wonderful  to 


SOOBOO 


93 


her,  so  different  from  the  worship  of  the  idols  and 
so  immensely  better,  that  she  could  not  believe 
that  those  she  loved  so  well,  and  whom  she 
honoured,  would  not  serve  Him  too  if  they  could 
only  see  Him. 

But  she  did  not  know  how  fiercely  her  family  hated 
the  religion  of  the  foreigner.  They  tried  every  way 
they  could  to  make  her  yield,  and  when  their  pleading 
and  their  caresses  failed,  they  began  to  ill-use  her. 
But  she  did  not  flinch.  She  only  thought  she  must 
be  patient  and  wait  till  those  whom  she  loved  saw 
Jesus  Christ  for  themselves.  But  one  night  she  heard 
an  awful  thing.  She  heard  that  her  people  were 
planning  to  send  her  away  to  a far  distant  city  to 
make  her  a priestess  in  an  idol  temple  there.  She 
knew  too  well  that  if  they  took  her  there,  she  would 
be  forced  to  worship  the  god  and  to  take  part  in  rites 
that  were  hateful  to  her,  or  else  to  die.  She  had  been 
willing  to  bear  pain  and  unkindness  in  the  hope  that 
she  might  win  her  friends  to  Christ,  but  she  could  not 
yield  to  this.  So  one  night  she  left  her  father’s  house 
and  reached  the  home  of  the  missionaries  in  safety. 
She  would  not  yield  to  the  entreaties  of  her  friends 
who  came  to  seek  her,  though  she  still  loved  them, 
and  they  could  not  force  her  to  go  back,  for  she  was 
old  enough  to  be  free  by  law  to  decide  for  herself. 

You  remember  the  golden  image  of  Sooboo  that  was 
being  made  to  stand  in  the  Hindu  temple.  There  was 
another  image  made  of  Sooboo  now.  It  was  not  made 
of  gold,  and  it  was  large — as  large  as  Sooboo  herself. 
When  it  was  finished  it  was  not  set  up  in  a temple. 


94 


CHILDREN  OF  INDIA 


It  was  laid  on  a stretcher  like  a dead  body,  and  carried 
through  the  streets  of  Madras  and  Sooboo’s  father 
and  brothers  wailed  out  as  they  carried  it,  “ Sooboo 
is  dead  ! ” “ Sooboo  is  dead  ! ” And  Sooboo  listened 
as  they  passed  along.  She  heard  the  voices  of  those 
she  loved  wailing  out  this  terrible  dirge,  and  in  her 
misery  she  covered  her  ears  with  her  hands. 

The  image  of  Sooboo  was  burned  on  the  funeral 
pyre  as  if  it  had  really  been  Sooboo  ; and  what 
followed  after  was  even  more  terrible  for  the  girl, 
for  she  heard  that  her  mother,  who  had  always  been 
so  much  cared  for,  and  had  enjoyed  the  comfort 
and  luxury  of  a wealthy  home,  and  who  had  lived 
away  from  the  sight  of  all  except  those  of  her  own 
family,  had  taken  the  ashes  of  the  image  of  Sooboo 
and  had  started  out  on  foot  to  beg  her  way  to  the 
Ganges  and  throw  the  ashes  on  its  waters.  No  one 
knew  so  well  as  Sooboo  how  great  her  mother’s  love 
for  her  was,  when  it  could  make  her  venture  out 
into  the  unknown  land  to  walk,  in  poverty,  hundreds 
of  miles,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  wan  forgiveness  for 
her  child.  How  she  longed  to  fly  to  comfort  her 
mother.  But  that  could  only  be  by  denying  her  King  ! 

Sooboo  had  a pilgrimage  of  her  owoi  to  make,  for 
she  carried  the  devotion  that  had  made  her  plan  how 
she  could  best  serve  the  gods  into  her  service  of  the 
King.  Her  pilgrimage  took  her  into  the  villages 
and  the  Zenanas  round  Madras  that  she  might  help 
the  women  of  her  land  to  see  the  King  of  India.  And 
ever  when  the  sight  of  a funeral  made  her  think  of 
that  awful  wail  “ Sooboo  is  dead,”  or  when  some  aged 


SOOBOO 


95 


pilgrim  brought  back  the  thought  of  her  mother’s 
weary  steps  over  the  burning  roads  of  India,  she 
turned  to  her  own  pilgrimage  more  eagerly,  that  she 
might  hasten  the  time  when  India  would  know  that  it 
was  life  and  not  death  to  find  the  King,  and  when  its 
peoples  would  crowd  to  Him,  instead  of  to  the  Ganges. 

For  there  is  something  about  the  King  of  India 
that  makes  men  and  women  who  have  really  seen 
Him  feel  that  there  is  nothing  so  great  as  to  serve 
Him,  and  nothing  so  kind  as  to  help  some  one  else 
to  see  Him  too. 

But  this  King  of  India  is  the  King  of  all  the  world, 
and  He  still  asks  those  who  have  seen  Him  to  help 
Him  in  His  kingdom.  The  boys  and  girls  in  India 
to-day  could  win  all  their  land  for  Him  if  they  only 
knew  Him.  But  the  boys  and  girls  in  Christian 
lands  must  help,  for  even  those  who  are  far  away 
have  their  part  to  do.  Long  ago  if  a boy  wished  to 
be  a knight  he  began  by  serving  a knight.  Christ 
the  King  needs  many  knights  to  ride  for  Him  in  India, 
to  redress  wrong,  to  save  the  sad  and  dying  and  the 
sinful ; but  He  needs  others  to  be  servants  of  the 
knights,  and  each  boy  and  girl  can  find  something  to 
do  to  help  the  knights  of  the  King  of  India. 


